Civil society groups and some individuals have demanded an apology from the former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai for his “insensitive, sexist slandering’’ remarks on Ishrat Jahan who was reportedly killed in a fake encounter in Gujarat.
Stung by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report which concluded that Ishrat was executed in cold blood, Mr Pillai-hard-pressed to defend his affidavit to the Supreme Court that Ishrat was a Lashkar operative-has stooped to now slandering the girl’s personal life suggesting that her checking into different hotels with “another man” was definitely suspicious, a joint statement issued here said. Perhaps, Mr. Pillai wishes us to believe that all those young women who travel and work independently are ‘suspicious’ and could have terrorist links, it added.
Mr Pillai is no doubt aware that questions will be raised about his affidavit-and also all those journalists who were churning out whatever that was emanating from his office-and is now rushing to hide behind sexist insinuations, the civil society group statement has pointed out.
The signatories to the statement are Jyoti Punwani (independent journalist), Githa Hariharan (writer), Kamini Jaiswal (senior lawyer), Uma Chakravarti (academic), Uma Saumya and Lalita Ramdas (concerned citizens), Kavita Srivasatava (PUCL), Uma V. Chandru (PUCL, Bangalore), Shabnam Hashmi (ANHAD), Saba Dewan (independent filmmaker), Sabeena Gadihoke (Associate Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia), Prof. Janaki Rajan (Jamia Millia Islamia), Prof. Anuradha Chenoy (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Seema Mustafa (senior journalist), Tahira Hasan (Tehrike Niswan), Kavita Krishnan (AIPWA), Rita Manchanda (activist), Khaadeej Arif (journalist), Shikha Sen (independent filmmaker). Mansi Sharma (activist), Seema Duhan (activist), Madhu Mehra (Partners for Law in Development), Dr. Rochelle Pinto (University of Delhi), Mona Das (University of Delhi), Vani Subramanian, Satnam Kaur and Vinita (Saheli), Manisha Sethi, Farah Farooqi, AzraRazak, Sanghamitra Misra and Ambarien Al Qadar (JTSA).
