West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s penchant to put her foot more often in the mouth continued unabated as the feisty leader said that rapes were taking place because men and women were now mixing more freely than ever.
“Earlier if a man and a woman would hold hands,they would be caught by their parents and scolded, but now everything is so open. It’s like an open market with open options,” she said, while releasing the Durga Puja issue of Trinamool’s newspaper Jago Bangla. Meanwhile, the illogical and irresponsible remarks by West Bengal’s first woman Chief Minister has raised several eyebrows.
Didi also lashed out at the media for giving extensive coverage to the spate of rape cases reported from the state. She, however, refused to accept yet again that there was a need for an urgent review of women’s safety. “Everyday rape incidents are being highlighted as if the entire state has become the land of rapists. Rape is sought to be glorified by these people (media). This will not be tolerated by people. I would like to say that negative journalism only destroys and it is time to champion positive journalism,” she said.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), West Bengal tops the list of crimes committed against women with 29,133 cases in 2011.
Even as the number of rapes has been rising at an alarming rate, the apathy shown by the state government in terming the rapes as a “conspiracy” has been viewed with growing concern. As recently as on October 9, a first-year student, at a government-run polytechnic in Asansol, was allegedly drugged and gangraped in the union room.
Mamata had also accused the media of giving undue importance to certain news stories because of ulterior corporate interests, instead of highlighting the positives of the TMC Government. “Incorrect news stories and canards are being spread by a section of the media, particularly some news channels, to target the government,” she added.
