Bedi regrets unintended hurt caused by her remarks

Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi on Saturday stated that she has “no hesitation in expressing regrets” over the unintended hurt that might have been caused by her recent tweet on ‘ex-criminal tribes’ following the Bulandshahr gangrape of a woman and her daughter.

Following the arrest of a few accused belonging to a nomadic tribe in Uttar Pradesh after the horrific incident, Ms. Bedi’s August 1 tweet — ‘Ex-criminal tribes are known to be very cruel. They are hardcore professionals in committing crimes. Rarely caught and/or convicted’— had created a furore. The tweet had been slammed for being insensitive, reflective of a colonial/feudal mindset and unbecoming of an occupant of a Constitutional office.

In a press statement on Saturday, Ms. Bedi said, “The 140 characters of a tweet does not often permit us to voice our view in its full intent, because of which concerns have been raised by some quarters and I am duty bound to putting things in perspective and clarifying the tweet regarding Ex-criminal Tribe.”

Noting the concerns raised by some quarters over the tweet, Ms. Bedi sought to add perspective to her remarks by narrating her policing experience in Madipur (West Delhi) .

“I recalled how the entire district police and villagers forming night patrols used to spend sleepless nights protecting residents of outlying areas. I personally used to be out night patrolling five nights a week. These are all a matter of record in my book, I Dare ,... ,” she said.

Ms. Bedi added that alongside preventing crime, “we were also reforming several of them still involved in their ‘traditional crimes’ such as thefts, bootlegging etc. In fact, the genesis of my NGO, Navjyoti India Foundation, began with their reform and rehabilitation when we started to open schools for educating their children and providing skills training for their women who were only bootleggers.

“Hence, what I was alluding to was, that those not rehabilitated and come into reform may still be indulging is such crimes,” Ms. Bedi said.

“The views expressed ought to be seen against this background. I meant ill to no one. I meant not to hurt any one either. I just shared my past experience and if it has hurt anybody’s sentiments. I have no hesitation in expressing my regrets,” she said.

“The rape incident caused deep anguish. I feel so sad about it,” Ms. Bedi said.