Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s statement that it was difficult to contain crime in populous Uttar Pradesh has touched several raw nerves in the State.
While women and civil rights activists on Saturday criticised the statement and held demonstrations against the deteriorating law and orde, political parties demanded a CBI probe into the Mohanlalganj rape and murder incident.
Even as the police failed to make any arrest in the gruesome Mohanlalganj rape and murder case, civil rights groups and political activists staged protests in Lucknow, while the Congress, BJP and BSP demanded a CBI probe into the incident for speedy justice to the victim.
Condemning Mr. Singh’s statement that “there are 21 crore people in Uttar Pradesh; every crime cannot be checked in the state. The police take action against the criminals if such cases take place,” civil rights activist and political parties said such insensitive remark by the leader of the ruling party and whose son was the Chief Minister would only embolden criminals in the state.
“I completely reject such a formulation by any leader from UP, especially the leaders of the ruling party of the state. Denying is a bigger crime and acceptance itself can solve half of the issue. Only then can they take strict actions to prevent such crimes. The ruling party of UP is politicising violence against women by repeatedly denying the existence of such crimes. The government will have to necessary actions against the culprits,” said women rights activist Annie Raja. Lucknow also witnessed a series of protests against poor law and order in the state.
Activists of National Federation of Indian Women and All India Democratic Women Association have already staged demonstrations.
Congress state unit president Nirmal Khatri said Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has failed miserably in containing crime and nailing the accused. Notably, the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures, as reported by The Hindu , reveal that in last two years cases of crime against women has gone up considerably, with rape cases alone registering a 55 per cent increase -- from 1,963 in 2012 to 3,050 in 2013.
