Bilkis Bano case has woken up conscience of India: DMK

CHENNAI: The ruling DMK has ended its silence on the Bilkis Bano case convicts’ remission and said that it has woken up the conscience of the country.

Penning an editorial in this regard in party mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ on Tuesday, the DMK said, “What has happened to Bilkis Bano has woken up the conscience of India.”

Quoting extensively from Bilkis Bano’s recent letter in which she said, “My motherland should not become a land of those denied justice and a wilderness ruled by those denying justice,” the editorial reproduced her words, “They (convicts out on remission) are roaming freely in the society. I am living in hiding.”

Also referring to a letter written by 134 retired IAS and IPS officers to Chief Justice of India UU Lalit in this regard recently, the DMK editorial said that retired bureaucrats have informed the CJI that what happened to Bilkis Bano of Gujarat has shaken the conscience of Indian society.

Claiming that people have written in thousands to the Supreme Court against the remission granted to the 11 convicts by the Gujarat government, the Murasoli article said that the people have wondered if it is morally right, though it is legally right?

“Releasing them was terribly wrong. The accused have been punished for sexual violence and murder. They had attempted to destroy evidence. The Maharashtra government, which tried the case, should have made the decision. The Gujarat government, which is unrelated to the case, has no right to make the decision. Five of the 10 members in the remission review panel were BJP persons. It reeks of bias and raises questions over the independent functioning,” the editorial quoted the retired bureaucrats as saying.