‘Vote for BJP or you will get raped! Is this your election message to Delhi’s women’, ask women activists, rights groups in an open letter to Narendra Modi

Feminists, women’s rights activists and NGOs on Monday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to break his silence and condemn alleged rampant threats of violence and rape issued by BJP leaders in the run-up to February 8 Delhi elections.

“What is this kind of communal hate and fear-mongering that you, as head of government, are encouraging, that seeks to make women of all communities feel more insecure and threatened? We have long suffered violence on our bodies, with little access to justice. We condemn this attempt to demean our histories of pain and fear by using it for cheap, divisive electioneering,” a total of 175 persons said in the letter.

During poll campaign in Delhi, BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath allegedly exhorted the use of gun violence against anti-CAA protesters, most of whom are women accompanied by their children. BJP MP Parvesh Verma had said: “Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They’ll enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them.”

“Vote for BJP or you will get raped! Is this your election message to Delhi’s women? Is this how low your party has sunk,” the letter asked.

They urged Mr. Modi to “speak out against targeted violence and hate speech”, “take action, including under relevant criminal provisions of the penal code, against violence-mongering party members,” as well as fight Delhi election “in a manner that upholds the dignity of our Constitution and the security of India’s women”.

The signatories to the letter include feminist economist Devaki Jain, craft activist Laila Tyabji, former Ambassador of India Madhu Bhaduri, former member of Planning Commission Syeda Hameed, feminist historian Uma Chakravarti as well as organisations such as Saheli, Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS), All India Democratic Women’s Association, Muslim Women’s Forum, among others.

On Monday, Opposition members walked out of the Lok Sabha as Mr. Verma rose to initiate the discussion on Motion of Thanks on President’s Speech. The protest action was against his comments during a poll rally for which the Election Commission of India has banned him from campaigning for 96 hours on January 30.

Addressing an election rally on Monday, the Prime Minister said the protests at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia were “by design”, against the Constitution and anarchic.