Badlapur incident: Pawar leads protest in Pune and calls government insensitive

Pune: Despite heavy rain, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leaders Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule along with Congress MPs Mohan Joshi and Ravindra Dhangekar led the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) protest in the city on Saturday morning to condemn the Badlapur incidents.

After the Supreme Court denied permission for a nationwide strike, the MVA decided to hold a silent protest across Maharashtra.

The leaders and workers, wearing black bands on their arms, staged a protest at the Ambedkar statue near Pune railway station against the Badlapur incident in which two minor girls were allegedly sexually abused in a local school.

Pawar said the Badlapur incident had tarnished Maharashtra's image in the country as the state government had failed in its responsibility for women's safety.

Regarding the ruling parties' accusations that the protests were politically motivated, he said: “The government claims that the opposition is making politics. The fact that it is called politics shows how callous the government is.”

The veteran politician also took an oath together with party workers and said: “We swear to raise our voices whenever women are subjected to crime or injustice.”

According to Pawar, the Badlapur incident has raised many questions as the authorities were unaware of the seriousness of the incident. “The increasing number of cases in Maharashtra is disturbing. Cases of women abuse are being reported every day and the government should look into the issue. It is sad and disturbing that we are sensitising the government and the authorities about the serious problem while they are claiming that the opposition is politicising the incident. This shows how sensitive the people in power are.”

Sule said, “The media has acted responsibly by not revealing the identities of the survivors of the Badlapur incident and their families. But now political workers should not visit their homes and make details public.”

Leading representatives and supporters of the Shiv Sena (UBT) also took part in the action.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also held a silent protest against MVA in the city, with officials covering their mouths with black tape.

Dhiraj Ghate, BJP city council leader, said, “The Supreme Court verdict has foiled the MVA's plan to lock down Maharashtra in protest against the unfortunate incident in Badlapur.”

He alleged that the MVA was making a desperate attempt to politicise the issue in view of the upcoming assembly elections and that the BJP was staging this agitation to expose its hypocrisy.

The alleged sexual assault of two four-year-old girls by a male teacher at a school in Badlapur in Thane district sparked massive protests in the city on Tuesday, with thousands of people blocking roads and railway tracks and clashing with police.