Badlapur sexual assault: MVA stages statewide agitations; BJP holds counter-protests

Mumbai: A day after calling off the Maharashtra Bandh following a Bombay high court order, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) staged protests across the state on Saturday to condemn the sexual assault on two minor girls in a Badlapur school earlier this month.
Senior leaders of the opposition alliance, including Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule, and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, among others, led demonstrations in various parts of the state.
In response, the Bharatiya Janata Party held counter-protests, accusing the opposition parties of politicising the sexual assault case.
Thackeray led the agitation at Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai, while Pawar, Sule, and Congress leaders Ravindra Dhangekar and Mohan Joshi staged a silent protest at the Ambedkar statue near Pune railway station, braving morning rains. The leaders and party workers tied black ribbons to their arms and foreheads and also pledged to act against atrocities against women.
At the Sena Bhavan protest, Thackeray accused the Maharashtra government of trying to sweep the matter under the carpet instead of acting against the accused. He also questioned why the call for a general strike was opposed. “We called a bandh for the security of women, sisters and daughters. Why has the bandh been opposed in Maharashtra, while the one organised in the backdrop of the Kolkata [rape and murder] case was allowed?”
Further criticising the Mahayuti alliance, Thackeray said, “Maharashtra has never seen such a shameless government. When crimes against women are on the rise, these kans mamas (evil uncles) were busy tying rakhis.” He was seemingly referring to chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
Thackeray urged President Droupadi Murmu to clear the Shakti Bill, which has stringent punishments for crimes against women, including the death penalty. The Maharashtra legislature had unanimously passed the Bill in December 2021, but the central government hasn’t approved it yet. “I urge the President, who is also a woman, to remove the dust on the file of the Shakti bill and clear it now,” he said.
Thackeray also indicated that advocate Gunratna Sadavarte, who filed the petition in the Bombay high court against the MVA’s call for a statewide bandh, was working at the government’s behest. He, however, chose not to name anyone.
Pawar, meanwhile, slammed the ruling parties for saying that the MVA’s protests were politically motivated. “Calling it politics shows how insensitive the government is,” he said. “The Badlapur incident has hit the image of Maharashtra in the country. There’s not a single day in Maharashtra when there is no news of atrocities against women.”
Defending the Opposition’s agitation, Thorat said he hadn’t seen such bad governance in his four-decade-long career. “There is strong anger among the people against the ruling parties. The government should step down from power or the central government should impose President’s rule,” the senior Congress leader said, after staging a silent protest by tying his mouth with a black ribbon in Ahmednagar.
Protests were also held in Thane, where leaders from the three main Opposition parties—Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP-SP—jointly staged a demonstration at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, former minister Jitendra Awhad and Shiv Sena (UBT) district head Kedar Dighe tied their mouths with black ribbons. Even though it rained in most places where the protests were held, the Opposition continued their agitation.
In Nagpur, leader of Opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, and Congress MLAs Vikas Thakre and Abhijit Wanjari held a silent protest at Samvidhan Chowk.
To counter the Opposition’s protest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, staged demonstrations at various places in the state. In Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, BJP workers demanded a speedy trial and strict punishment for the accused in the Badlapur case. State housing minister Atul Save, who led the protest, said, “The case should be tried in a fast-track court and the accused be punished severely. We will not tolerate atrocities against women.”
The BJP Mahila Morcha state chief Chitra Wagha, who also staged a counter-protest, alleged that the Opposition is maligning Maharashtra. “The people will not let them do this…The government is in action mode,” she charged.
Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the punishment in such cases needs to be made so harsh that the perpetrators will not think of doing it again. “I personally believe that when an individual dares to molest our mother, sister and daughter then he should be get a punishment after which he would never ever dare to think of it again,” the NCP president said adding, “In my language their genitalia should be chopped off. They should not get second chance.”
Pawar made the statement in a programme organised to promote government schemes in Yavatmal, where chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis were also present.