Strongly condemning the gang-rape of a photojournalist in Mumbai, veteran actress and social activist Shabana Azmi Saturday expressed disapproval that politicians were blaming migrants for the rise of crime against women.
“Firstly, I would like to begin by condemning this horrible incident of gang-rape in the city of Mumbai, which we have prided ourselves in as the safest city in India. But the incident has happened after the anti-rape law has been passed in Parliament. With both houses taking into consideration many of the amendments proposed by the Justice Verma committee, one would have hoped for an actual change,” Shabana told reporters on the sidelines of a fund-raising event organised by the Tata Medical Centre and Taj Bengal here.
“The fact that it can happen with such impunity points to the fact that people do not have fear instilled in them that law and order will actually take its own course. This is very shocking, and the culprits should get the severest punishment possible,” the actress said.
Branding the trend of politicians jumping to conclusions as “hasty” and “unfortunate”, the 61-year-old said one should focus on solutions, rather than “politicising the debate”.
“To hastily make comments about why crimes are on the rise without going into any real social analysis would be a hasty decision. I think this is a very unfortunate way of saying that migrants are responsible for such incidents. If you look at the statistics of Maharashtra, more than 30 percent of the migration that takes place in Maharashtra happens from the interiors of the state,” Shabana said.
“I would have hoped that instead of rushing to such hasty conclusions, we should look at the facts as they are and keep our concentration not on politicising the debate, but making sure that each one of us, as active citizens, participates in whatever solutions are required to change the mindset that uses rape as a means of subjugation,” she said.
