On Bilkis Bano case, Siddaramaiah's scathing attack on Amit Shah: 'Apologise'

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday demanded Union home minister Amit Shah's resignation over the release of Bilkis Bano gang-rape case convicts. In a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah hit out at the BJP government. Stating that the release of convicts “exposes the cruel mindset of BJP leaders”, the senior Congress leader demanded Shah's apology to the nation.

“@HMOIndia's order to release the convicts in Bilkis Bano case, exposes the cruel mindset of @BJP4India leaders. They have brought shame to the entire country by granting pardon to these inhuman vultures. @AmitShah should resign & apologise to the entire nation,” he wrote.

Hitting out at the central government, Siddaramaiah wrote, “It is unfortunate that @BJP4India wants to use sensitive issue for their political agenda. The release of those inhuman rapists & murderers is to polarise electorate ahead of Gujarat elections. For BJP, elections become more important than the concerns of women of this country.”

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“The entire nation has seen the beautiful bond of @narendramodi & his mother. But why could @narendramodi not see the pain of the mother who lost her infant & unborn child? India will not forgive this inhuman decision of @BJP4India govt to grant pardon,” he added in another tweet.

Siddaramaiah further questioned, “where are all the women MPs”.

“Where are the women MPs from @BJP4India? @nsitharaman? @ShobhaBJP? If they can't stand up even for women's causes, they are unfit to continue in their positions. Can they sleep peacefully knowing that rapists were released by their party for political reasons?" he questioned.

On August 15, all the 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang-rape case - walked out of the Godhra sub-jail after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy.

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On Monday, the affidavit submitted by the state government revealed that remission was granted in August despite objections from the trial court judge who convicted the 11 men, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated and prosecuted the case in Mumbai following the 2004 apex court order of shifting the trial outside Gujarat. However, after the MHA and the relevant authorities in the Gujarat government, including the jail advisory committee, cleared the decks for the release of 11 convicts, the remission order was issued on August 10.

According to the affidavit, the remission was granted as they had completed 14 years in prison and their "behaviour was found to be good".