BJP’s Shazia Ilmi writes on Bilkis Bano remission: My personal sense of justice feels betrayed https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/bjp-shazia-ilmi-writes-bilkis-bano-remission-sense-justice-feels-betrayed-8141620/ Shazia Ilmi writes: Accusations of bias or preferential treatment are ridiculous, convicts in the Bilkis Bano case utilised the remission process afforded to them after the minimum of 14 years. But this is less about jurisprudence and technicalities of law and more about justice
VHP hits out, asks BJP to come clean on statement over Bilkis Bano rape convicts https://indianexpress.com/article/india/vhp-hits-out-asks-bjp-to-come-clean-on-statement-over-bilkis-bano-rape-convicts-8143171/
In a rejoinder to The Indian Express, the VHP denied any association with those who had felicitated the culprits, and asked the BJP leadership to clarify whether Ilmi’s views were personal or the party’s stand.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Saturday strongly criticised her where she said that those who felicitated convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case on their release belonged to the VHP while distancing Prime Minister Narendra Modi from it. In a late-night tweet, Ilmi said Saturday: “If VHP members had not felicitated them (the convicts), then I stand corrected and apologise for the same.” She also said that her reference to the acrimony between the BJP and Modi, and the VHP, was about what had happened in the past, “… when the PM was the Chief Minister, and Pravin Togadia publicly ridiculed Modi’s ‘sadbhavana’ rally in 2011. He later went on a fast and hunger strike against the Modi Govt in 2018. I did not at all refer to anything going on in the present.”
Will Releasing Bilkis Bano's Rapists Prove Costly for the BJP? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lm6xbGXDWM
26,878 views Sep 12, 2022 In this episode of Lucknow Central, Sharat Pradhan talks about how the BJP is distancing itself from the warm welcome Bilkis Bano's rapists got after their release – and blaming that particular incident on the VHP. Why would the BJP do that? Could it be that given the unpopularity of the move, the BJP hopes to do some damage control before the Gujarat assembly elections?