In Kolkata during his election rally, Yogi Adityanath Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister declared that Bengal is not a safe place for women under the present Trinamool government and promised he would unleash “Anti-Romeo Squads” in Bengal if BJP wins elections.
Yogi Adityanath addressed three poll rallies in Bengal today in the Hooghly and Howrah districts of West Bengal. He said if voted into power, the BJP government would build up education and stress on women.
He stated, “Why is Bengal not a safe place for women? Education and transport will be made free for girls in Bengal. Anti-Romeo squads will be formed in Bengal to deal with those who loiter around girls’ schools.”
In Uttar Pradesh Anti-Romeo squads were launched in Uttar Pradesh to ensure the safety of women soon after Adityanath assumed power in 2017.
The BJP leader criticized the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and derided it for failing to bring in any positive change in the ten years that it has been in power.
“Where is the paribartan (change) that Mamata Banerjee had promised ten years ago?” he asked.
He taunted the Bengal Chief Minister saying “Why is Bengal not a safe place for women? This soil had produced so many social reformers. What happened to the youth of the state who have become frustrated?”
Yogi Adityanath alleged that Mamata Banerjee has no compassion for the youth, farmers, and development. “But she has compassion for the TMC goons.”
Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act, he said it had been passed by Parliament and TMC had fanned violence against it in West Bengal.
The violence that occurred in West Bengal due to the legislation of CAA in Parliament had been fanned by the TMC.
He also said, “Here in Bengal, TMC is all for appeasement for the sake of vote bank. Mamata Banerjee supports cow slaughter. In UP cow slaughter is not allowed. If anybody is found to be involved in it, the person goes to jail.”
“TMC is not allowing central schemes to be implemented in West Bengal. Violence, anarchy, and corruption have ruined the state” he said.
Ironically, as Yogi says this, NCRB’s Crimes in India 2017 report records cases of crimes against women registered in 2017 across the country with Uttar Pradesh at the top spot with 56,011 cases in 2017, continuing the rising rate of crime in the Yogi Adityanath-ruled state. Maharashtra came second but was nowhere near UP with 31,979 cases in 2017 but continued an increasing rate of crime since 2015.
A released data of the National Crime Record Board (NCRB) on October 7, 2020, revealed that the safest city in India for women is Kolkata! Kolkata is recognized as the safest city in the country for women. Kolkata, the City of Joy is the most cosmopolitan city of India with the most panoramic blend of cultures from very diverse mindsets.
It is the seat of home to not only Bengalis but also Gujaratis, Sindhis, Punjabis, Biharis, Tibetans, Nepalis, Chinese, and was once the British capital so is the home of 30,000 Anglo-Indians in West Bengal alone, concentrated in Kolkata, while a handful live in Kharagpur, Santragachi, Asansol and Adra. There is a lot of tolerance for one another and respect for women in general. It has to be noted that presently, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the only woman chief minister in India. Bengal is the home to many great women writers, poets, and thinkers, philosophers.
While crimes against women are rampant across the country and there are cases in Bengal too, UP by NCRB records is far worse. In fact, over the last few years, there have been a series of very heinous rapes and murders of Dalit girls in Uttar Pradesh, and the brutality of the rape and murders has stunned the nation.
Thus Yogi Adityanath’s statements do come at a time when Uttar Pradesh is doing far worse than Bengal in terms of the viciousness of the serial attackers on women with their rape murders and presently, Uttar Pradesh is considered the most unsafe place for women so the statement almost seemed hilarious at a time such as this.
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