(This story originally appeared in on Jan 4, 2017)

Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a Rajya Sabha MP

Read this story in Marathi:

ByFour years ago in December 2012, a young girl Jyoti Singh became victim of a horrible crime etched in all our memories as Nirbhaya . That was Delhi and this is now in Bengaluru as many women, instead of experiencing the simple joys of bringing in the New Year, had to face the horror of mass molestation Just as politicians and bureaucrats rushed to deflect the attention from the crime during the Nirbhaya episode, similar is the case today with this government’s indefensible statements blaming women for their dress sense and every other conceivable reason to blame the victims for the crimes committed on them. Expectedly, you also heard some try and make this an ‘outsider vs insider’ debate or worse still a rich vs poor one. All sad attempts at ducking responsibility of the crime that happened.But be that as it may – an expected response from the government that seems to have long abandoned even a shadow of accountability and responsiveness to citizens – the facts need to be brought to the attention of this government and all of us.To start with, it is clear that the Chief Minister and his government need reminding of a simple but important fact that they seem to have forgotten - an elected government, its ministers and the police are obliged to provide law and order and safety to all its citizens. This is a constitutional mandate and responsibility imposed on any self-respecting elected state government. This responsibility is unambiguous and covers every man, woman, child and senior citizen. However, forgetfulness of their duties seems to be repeating itself frequently with this government.To the home minister, I point out respectfully there is no provision in the Constitution or indeed the laws of this state that dilutes his responsibility or the responsibility of the police to provide protection based on sex, or dress code. India is not Saudi Arabia and Bengaluru is not some city out there. It is part of a constitutional democracy that provides rights to all citizens. To him and the new police commissioner, I would like to further point out - crimes were committed on the night of 31st December. I can quote extensively all the laws in Criminal Penal Code that were violated that night including outraging the modesty of women, attempted rape, etc. – in violation of Sections 294, 354, 509 among others. These crimes need to be investigated and criminals identified and prosecuted. The commissioner of police’s statement claiming victims should go to the police in order to initiate investigation is shocking, insensitive and professionally unacceptable. The police have the powers and ability to suo motu investigate these crimes, file FIRs – especially when the prompt professional response to these crimes is vital for the professional credibility and reputation of the Bengaluru police as an institution and for Bengaluru as our city. The political leadership and the current government will be consigned to history soon but the police as an institution is a permanent one that will need to earn back the trust of the people it serves.The signs of apathy and neglect of Bengaluru and its citizens are just too frequent to ignore with this government. Childrens’ safety, environment, zoning laws and the list goes on endless – but except for childrens’ safety, most others can be perceived to be victimless. However, when it comes to crimes against children, women and the elderly – a government is expected to have a zero-tolerance approach to fulfilling its duties and protecting them – which it has failed to do on Dec 31st, 2016 leaving many innocent girls scarred and abused.Mr CM with great respect, you let them all down! The larger questions remain - why is the government dithering on investigating these crimes? Why did the government not give clearer directions to the police about the safety of its people on New Year’s Eve? Is it that the police that has had to deal with repeated instances of MLAs and ministers’ children throwing their weight around are now averse to taking any action against criminals? Is Bengaluru becoming a city where women have to now worry about their safety?My request to CM this - Redeem yourself and your government in this last year of your term. Take some time off from other ‘interesting’ projects like Akrama Sakrama, steel flyover and pay some heed to the call to make our women feel safer in our home city, Bengaluru.