Just after scrapping of Article 370 & 35A by the central government, social media was abuzz with people talking about the purchase of plots in Jammu & Kashmir and dreams of bringing girls from the territory as wives. Excited with the party’s success in fulfilling a promise from its manifesto, BJP-led Haryana Government’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar stoked controversy with his comments on women from J&K.
“Our minister OP Dhankhar used to say that he will bring a ‘bahu’ (daughter-in-law) from Bihar. Nowadays, people are saying that the path to Kashmir has been cleared, so now we will bring girls from Kashmir,” the CM said. He was speaking at a state-level function in Fatehabad and was commenting on the success of the Centre’s flagship Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao program.
However, Khattar, in the same speech said his statement was just a joke, but this speech went viral and attracted severe reactions from all corners. The Congress party made it an issue and its leaders from different pillars and posts raised their voice condemning the comment.
Even Rahul Gandhi reacted saying “Haryana CM, Khattar’s comment on Kashmiri women is despicable and shows what years of RSS training does to the mind of a weak, insecure and pathetic man. Women are not assets to be owned by men.”
Khattar hit back saying, “Weak, insecure and pathetic” are adjectives people use for the President of the Congress Party. Manufacturing statements & subsequently destroying their own party does not work in the long term.”
Former MP and son of late Chaudhary Bhajan Lal, Kuldeep Bishnoi said in his tweet, “I strongly condemn this insensitive, disrespectful and irresponsible statement by Khattar. The head of the state should be judicious in his thoughts and choice of words.”
National President of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati tweeted, “BSP condemns the narrow-minded and indecent statement of Haryana Chief Minister issued after scrapping of article 370 about daughters of Kashmir. BJP’s top leadership immediately should take strict action on these anti-women activities.” ( हरियाणा के सीएम धारा 370 की समाप्ति के बाद कश्मीरी बहन-बेटियों के बारे में जो ओछी मानसिकता वाली अभद्रता कर रहे हैं उसकी बीएसपी कड़े शब्दों में निन्दा व तीव्र भर्त्सना करती है। बीजेपी शीर्ष नेतृत्व महिला विरोधी इन हरकतों का संज्ञान लेकर तत्काल सख्त कार्रवाई करे।)
Haryana is already infamous for its abysmal sex ratio and concerns about the killing of newborn girl children and the rate of crime against women. Here even the protectors contribute to the crime. A recent incident of rape by the policeman should open the eyes of government operators. According to a report by ANI, a woman was “allegedly raped by an inspector rank police official in Jind.” ANI quoted Pushpa, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jind as saying, “Case registered, accused has been arrested. Medicals of both accused and the victim have been done. Further investigation underway.”
However, the Haryana government continues to claim an overwhelming success in increasing sex ratio through its girl safety measures. In a government press release dated August 8 ,2019 the Project Director, Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates Programme, Dr. Rakesh Gupta was quoted saying: “As a result of the successful implementation of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign by the Haryana Government, for the first time in history, the birth rate of girls in the state has reached 918 per 1,000 boys. Thus, it is expected that by the end of the year the figure will reach 920. In the year 2014, the number of girls per 1000 boys was 871, 876 in 2015, 900 in 2016, 914 in 2017-18 whereas the number is 918 till June, 2019.”
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Dr Rakesh Gupta to review the progress of various schemes with the Deputy Commissioners through video conferencing. “Projects reviewed included such as Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act, Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and CM Window, Social Media Grievance Tracker, Haryana Vision Zero, Antyodaya Saral Project and Saksham Haryana,” the release said.
If we see the figures mentioned by English daily ‘ Hindustan Times’ updated on Sep 15, 2018, what an alarming situation it reflects in Haryana! “Statistics tabled in the state assembly indicate that the number of rape cases registered by the police from September 2014 to September 2015 was 961. The number increased to 1,026 in 2015-2016, was up to 1,193 in 2016-17 and 1,413 in 2017-2018.”
The report goes on to say “Similarly, the number of cases pertaining to the kidnapping of women and girls was 1,664 between September 2014-August 2015. They increased to 2,330 in 2015-16, 3,055 in 2016-17 and were 3,494 in 2017-18. There has also been a steady increase in molestation cases in the state – from 1,833 in 2014-15 to 2,320 in 2017-18.”
The Chief Minister claimed in the same speech at Fatehabad, “Haryana was infamous due to the low birth rate of daughters. The government launched Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign, due to which the number of girls born per 1,000 boys has increased from 850 to 933. We have to take this number to 1,000.”
After having a sight on the above government-given crime data, can we undoubtedly conclude how valid the government’s apparently claimed success of the Centre’s flagship Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao program has really been?
This article was originally published here