Okhla-headquartered Muslim body seeks President’s intervention in Bilkis Bano case
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) expresses dismay at the release of those convicted in the Bilkis Bano rape case. She was a victim of the 2002 Gujarat carnage, it said. It has requested the President of India to intervene in the matter and give direction to the Guajrat Government through the PM and the Home Minister to reverse the decision of releasing those convicts so that the system of justice and governance can be saved from becoming paralysed and ineffective.
JIH condemns the role of the Gujarat government in ensuring the release of those convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case and the murder of seven members of her family.
“Such decisions that are aimed at reaping political dividends to appease a particular constituency are highly objectionable. We condemn the decision and hope the apex court intervenes in the matter to reverse this grave injustice carried out under the guise of official government policy.
“The remission policy should be applied to those languishing in jails for petty crimes not for heinous crimes like rape and murder. If state governments are allowed to free criminals of their choice through a remission policy despite being convicted for crimes like rape and murder, then this will make a mockery of our justice dispensation system and the citizens will lose hope in the supremacy of the law. This is bound to embolden criminals and their masterminds as they will be confident of being bailed out by the system sooner or later despite committing the most heinous crimes.
“The manner in which these convicts are being felicitated and lauded is quite reprehensible,” it said.
