On June 2, 2019, BJP’s local legislator Balram Thawani, was seen kicking and thrashing a woman on the road, in a video which was shot by an onlooker. The video immediately went viral, garnered severe criticism from all quarters, including political parties and common citizens, who demanded immediate punitive action against the MLA.
Balwani later fabricated a self-defence theory which did not hold any strong ground. Although the woman was not willing to forgive him in the beginning, she later accepted his apology and presented him with a Rakhi in front of the media yesterday. The woman in the video is a local Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, named Nitu Tejwani, who was protesting along with other women, demanding the restoration of a water pipeline in Naroda town.
At first, Thawani had alleged that he did not hit the woman intentionally, he claimed it was purely an act of self-defence. Following the massive outrage, the BJP’s Gujarat unit termed the incident “shameful” and said that the party strongly condemned it; they also issued a show-cause notice to the MLA and demanded a public apology.
On that note, a press conference was called, where the MLA apologised to Tejwani for his behaviour and said, “She’s like my sister, I have apologized to her for what happened yesterday. We have cleared out the misunderstandings between us. I have promised to help her if she ever needs any help.”
Interestingly, the woman in her first interview said that she could not forgive the man in question, however, she seems to have changed her mind after the MLA visited her home and apologised; he said that he is like her brother and the woman accepted his apology, further stating that the MLA is like her elder brother, so she had to forgive him.
Condemning the assault, the NCP asked for the suspension of the MLA from the assembly and his dismissal from the BJP.
How Does Rakhi Absolve You From Crime?
Let’s suppose if you are an employee of a private or a government organisation and you behave in a similar manner as the above-mentioned MLA; if you are a private employee then, you would definitely lose your job, and if you are a government employee, then the least that would happen to you is the suspension of your service. But look how easy it is for a politician, just get a Rakhi and everything is sorted.
National news channels have remained silent over the issue; forget about debating over it, they haven’t even bothered to cover it as a piece of news. Don’t they want the nation to know this time? I seriously do not understand how the MLA has not been arrested or suspended for such an indecent act. In the video, it is clearly visible that he is thrashing the woman out on the street along with his goons.
If this person goes unpunished, it will set an example for other politicians that they can easily get away with humiliating, demeaning, harassing or assaulting a woman, just by calling her their sister. In other words, beating up your sister is no big deal?!
Now some of you may argue that the woman has also accepted the apology, yes she did, but what is the guarantee that she was not threatened into this?
The even bigger question that has been left unanswered is: How does a Rakhi absolve one from such a crime, and isn’t this barbaric behaviour unbecoming of a politician?