Clamour grows for House session on women safety

As the debate heated up on stricter laws to deal with crime against women, the BJP today reiterated its demand to call a special session of Parliament. The suggestion has not found favour with the Left while the Congress has already rejected it.

A debate in Parliament would “certainly be able to tap upon the serious sense of distress and dismay which is sweeping across the country”, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

He said the BJP would cooperate with the government in fortifying laws relating to crime against women besides strengthening the judicial architecture for ensuring swifter justice to the victims and action against the perpetrators of such heinous crime.

The party had earlier led a delegation to President Pranab Mukherjee urging his intervention in directing the Manmohan Singh government to summon a special session of Parliament. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had turned down the suggestion.

Agreeing with the BJP that there was an urgent need to firm up laws dealing with crime against women, CPI MP D Raja said a session could be held, but he doubted its efficacy till the larger issue of gender equality was settled. “The government has not been able to legislate on reservation for women although the Rajya Sabha has already passed the Bill (in March 2010),” Raja said.

BJD leader Bharatruhari Mahtab said unless the government had a specific agenda, there was no point in calling a special session just to debate and discuss. “If the government can come up with a draft legislation to effectively tackle crimes like rape, a special session can be held,” Mahtab said.

Reports suggest that the Congress plans to submit a set of proposals to the Justice Verma Committee set up by the government for suggesting measures to deal with the issue in the wake of the brutal gang rape of 23-year-old Delhi girl who died battling injuries in a Singapore hospital on Saturday.

The BJP today also questioned the move by the authorities in Delhi to block access to public places like the India Gate, the place of violent clashes between police and protesters on December 23. Prasad justified that a “nation in shock” is entitled to protest and criticise the government for converting Delhi into a cantonment.

The BJP also criticised the manner in which the cremation of the rape victim was held. Maintaining that it understands and respects the right of privacy, the BJP leader charged that the secret manner in which the funeral was held raises “a lot of curious questions”.

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