The Congress on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of targeting Muslim and Dalit women who spoke out against the establishment, citing cases of student protester Nishu Azad, Muslim journalists Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan, and Delhi University student Akriti Chaudhary.
“The BJP and [its ideological fount] RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] are anti-women. They are anti-Dalit and anti-Muslim women…and they themselves do not come forward. They have kept henchmen and goons. Their nurtured henchmen and goons are carrying out such acts so that these people are not directly involved,” said Congress leader Alka Lamba.
She alleged that the BJP and its supporters were using police action, criminal cases and intimidation to silence women protesters and journalists. Lamba demanded the arrest of influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj after a video surfaced in which he appeared to boast about assaulting Azad’s father, Sanjay Kumar, during the student protest against exam irregularities at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Deep Dive
What are the specific allegations made by Congress against the BJP regarding treatment of Dalit and Muslim women?
Why did the Delhi Police deny allegations of assault against the two journalists?
How did Swatantra Bhardwaj defend his actions against Nishu Azad’s father?
Bhardwaj claimed in a podcast that a phone call from the Delhi BJP minister Kapil Mishra helped him avoid jail.
Lamba showed Bhardwaj’s video at a press conference in which he is purportedly heard saying, “We did not even go to jail. The whole world should know that we did not even go to jail. We roamed around the entire night…there is a little bit of support from Kapil Mishra, our elder brother. They say Kapil Mishra’s call came and we were released.”
{{/usCountry}}Lamba showed Bhardwaj’s video at a press conference in which he is purportedly heard saying, “We did not even go to jail. The whole world should know that we did not even go to jail. We roamed around the entire night…there is a little bit of support from Kapil Mishra, our elder brother. They say Kapil Mishra’s call came and we were released.”
{{/usCountry}}Lamba said Kumar suffered a serious head injury, yet no case was lodged against Bhardwaj. She alleged that despite Bhardwaj using caste-related language against Azad and her family, no action had been taken under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act or SCT/ST Act.
“A daughter from the Dalit community, whom this person [Bhardwaj] is insulting by calling her a ‘neela kabootar’ using a caste-indicating term. Under the Constitution, for the use of such casteist words, an immediate FIR [first information report] and arrest are warranted under the SC/ST Act, which the police are not doing,” she said.
Lamba spoke about journalists Shaheen Khan and Nafisa Khan from 4PM News Network, who were allegedly detained and assaulted while covering an event of Union home minister Amit Shah and Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta at a private hospital in Saket on September 3.
She said that the journalists had gone to the event to question Shah and Gupta about the death of a 15-year-old reportedly undergoing treatment at AIIMS and the rape of a minor on a private bus. Lamba said instead the two women were allegedly arrested and physically assaulted, with the treatment worsening once the police became aware they were Muslim.
“They are saying that they are being targeted based on their religion. Whether it is Nishu Azad or Shaheen and Nafisa. They wanted answers, but instead of answers, they were driven away from there and taken into police custody. They were brought to the Saket police station. That much was fine, but there are marks on their bodies, serious injury marks. When were those injuries inflicted, by whom, and why?” asked Lamba. “The order is coming from above that whether they are from the Dalit or the Muslim community, the BJP government and its goons and the police as well are targeting them in violation of the Constitution.”
Lamba demanded that CCTV footage from the hospital be examined, an FIR be registered if the allegations of assault were established, and the personnel responsible be suspended.
Lamba said Chaudhary, a 25-year-old Delhi University student, was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for raising her voice for workers in Noida. “The workers’ protest that was taking place in Noida, Akriti Chaudhary supported that.”
Lamba said Chaudhary raised her voice against how the Noida district magistrate, Medha Roopam, tried to crush that protest. She accused Roopam of fabricating a case against Chaudhary to destroy her future. Lamba said Chaudhary was kept in jail for around five months. “To implicate Chaudhary, she fabricated a false case and directly, in that false case, imposed the National Security Act and sent her to jail...NSA was imposed to destroy her career, her future,” she said.
The Allahabad high court on September 2 quashed Chaudhary’s NSA detention, calling it arbitrary and unlawful. It directed authorities to pay her ₹5 lakh compensation.
Lamba said that by making them an example, the other women showing courage are being frightened. “So somewhere parents also become afraid and stop their children, saying ‘do not raise your voice, do not go anywhere to any protest’.” Lamba said Congress will support all women facing what she described as political intimidation.