Why society 'needs to undertake' a penance for what Bilkis Bano has had to suffer

By Sandeep Pandey*
It is a matter of shame for us as a society that Bilkis Bano's rapists have been released by a District level committee of Gujarat Government. Some people in the Hindutva family are also justifying the act by claiming that a few of the rapists are Sanskari Brahmans.
If rapists and murderers will be called Sanskari, then we as a society have to rethink about the moral values and ethical standards necessary to be upheld for us to be called a civilised society. Besides Biliks Bano feeling cheated by the act of Gujarat government, what would be the feelings of women of family of convicts?
We're sure no woman would feel that men of their family are sanskari if they indulge in violating the modesty of other women, irrespective of which caste or religion they belong to. We take pride that India is known in the world over for its spirituality. India is identified by Mahatma Gandhi who himself is a symbol of values and virtues.
It is a shame that Gujarat which produced a global spiritual stalwart like Mahatma Gandhi today is silent on people who have committed heinous crimes. Are we as a humanity going to defend the victims of violence and hate or not? Are we going to silently suffer the injustice being done to innocent people? What kind of society do we aspire to build and live in?
All 11 rapists and murderers who have been released are associated with the Hindutva ideology. Godhra based Advocate Narendra Parmar asks why the committee in Panchmahal district, of which the District Magistrate is also a part, chose to release only these 11 and not any other convicts serving sentences in Godhra jail for crimes much less heinous than these men?
The proceedings of the meeting in which decision was taken to release the rapists and murderers is not being provided under the Right to Information Act, in spite of the one month stipulated time being over in response to an application filed by journalist Rajjak Mansuri.
It is interesting to note that only one out of the 11 convicts had asked for remission of sentence from the court but all 11 were released by the district committee in a rare gesture of goodwill on the Independence Day soon after the Prime Minister made an appeal from the Red Fort that we must change our attitude towards women and must treat them with respect.
By releasing them just before the Gujarat elections the Bhartiya Janta Party government intends to send out a message that all its cadres will be protected in spite of the graveness of crime committed by them so long as it serves the purpose of Hindutva ideology.
We are one step closer to the establishment of Hindu Rashtra of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh by this decision of Gujarat government. The BJP and RSS may gain politically from this decision but anybody can predict that they are setting a dangerous precedent but letting out the culprit convicts, putting the victim and witnesses in a precarious position.

A Sorry Bilkis padyatra from her village Randhikpur, Dahod district, to Ahmedabad will held from 26 September to 4 October

The devious design for the purpose of communal polarisation is distorting or numbing the conscience of people. We are not being able to decide on the basis of merit of the case but our view is being coloured by caste and communal considerations. Slowly, this process will render us incapable of having a sense of empathy and we’ll become human beings without any feelings.

This phenomenon has already started affecting families where relationships are getting soured between those who support this Hindutva narrative and those who don’t. The scenario is becoming further murkier because the strident Hindutva is being confused with assertive nationalism by a section of population including people in positions of influence in bureaucracy and judiciary.
Some people feel that supporting BJP or RSS is in the interest of the country without realising that the sectarian politics espoused by these organisations is taking the society apart, alienating people even among close circles of friends and relatives, condoning hatred and violence which they would have otherwise not done and ignoring the socio-economic reality of the country intoxicated by some obscure notion of Hindu rashtra.
They are so blinded by this narrative that they don’t even realise that they are being misled purely for the political gain of a virulent ideology. This process has to be arrested at some point otherwise our slide down the hill of moral values and ethical standards or merely even civilised behaviour will continue unabated. We have to say enough is enough somewhere.
Let us speak out so that humanity survives, so that moral values and ethical standards are respected, so that innocent people feel safe and criminals are discouraged. We have to decide whether we owe any responsibility towards making our society more humane?
Until then we can only say we're sorry Bilkis. We only hope that what has happened with you will not happen with any innocent human being. The society actually needs to undertake a penance for what she has had to suffer.
---
*Magsaysay award winning academic and social activist, general secretary of Socialist Party (India), is taking out a padyatra from Bilkis Bano’s village Randhikpur in Dahod district to Ahmedabad during 26 September to 4 October, 2022

Comments

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Farewell to Saleem Samad: A life devoted to fearless journalism

By Nava Thakuria* Heartbreaking news arrived from Dhaka as the vibrant city lost one of its most active and committed citizens with the passing of journalist, author and progressive Bangladeshi national Saleem Samad. A gentleman who always had issues to discuss with anyone, anywhere and at any time, he passed away on 22 February 2026 while undergoing cancer treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was 74.

From ancient wisdom to modern nationhood: The Indian story

By Syed Osman Sher South of the Himalayas lies a triangular stretch of land, spreading about 2,000 miles in each direction—a world of rare magic. It has fired the imagination of wanderers, settlers, raiders, traders, conquerors, and colonizers. They entered this country bringing with them new ethnicities, cultures, customs, religions, and languages.

Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov, the artist who survived Stalin's cultural purges

By Harsh Thakor* Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov (September 14, 1885 – April 20, 1964) was a Soviet artist, professor, academician, and teacher. His work was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize, the highest artistic honour of the USSR. His paintings traced the development of socialist realism in the visual arts while retaining qualities drawn from impressionism. Gerasimov reconciled a lyrical approach to nature with the demands of Soviet socialist ideology.

Public money, private profits: Crop insurance scheme as goldmine for corporates

By Vikas Meshram The farmer in India is not merely a food provider; he is the soul of the nation. For centuries, enduring natural calamities and bearing debt generation after generation while remaining loyal to the soil, this community now finds itself trapped in a different kind of crisis. In February 2016, the Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with the stated objective of freeing farmers from the shackles of debt. It was an ambitious attempt to provide a strong safety net to cultivators repeatedly devastated by excessive rainfall, drought, and hailstorms.

Nepal votes amid regional rivalry: Why New Delhi is watching closely

By Nava Thakuria* As Nepal holds an early national election on Thursday (5 March 2026), the people of northeast India, along with other regional observers, are watching the proceedings closely. The vote was necessitated after the government of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli collapsed in September 2025 following widespread anti-government protests. The election will determine the composition of the 275-member House of Representatives, originally scheduled for 2027, under the stewardship of an interim government led by former Supreme Court justice Sushila Karki.

'Policy long overdue': Coalition of 29 experts tells JP Nadda to act on SC warning label order

By A Representative In a significant development for public health, the Supreme Court of India has directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to seriously consider implementing mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on pre-packaged food products. The order, passed by a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan on February 10, 2026, comes as the Court expressed dissatisfaction with the regulatory body's progress on the issue.

Unpaid overtime, broken promises: Indian Oil workers strike in Panipat

By Rosamma Thomas Thousands of workers at the Indian Oil Corporation refinery in Panipat, Haryana, went on strike beginning February 23, 2026. They faced a police lathi charge, and the Central Industrial Security Force fired into the air to control the crowd.

From non-alignment to strategic partnership: India's ideological shift toward Israel

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* India's historical foreign policy maintained a notable duality: offering sanctuary to persecuted Jewish communities dating back centuries, while simultaneously supporting Palestinian self-determination as an expression of its broader anti-colonial foreign policy commitments. The gradual shift in Indian foreign policy under Hindutva-aligned governance — moving toward a strategic partnership with Israel while reducing substantive engagement with the Palestinian cause — raises legitimate questions about ideological motivation and geopolitical consequence.

Search This Blog