Making a fervent appeal to think before celebrating freedom in a country where children are raped
and women are totally “unfree”, eminent lawyer and human rights activist Deepika Singh Rajawat said she was ashamed to term the country as “developed or developing.”
Addressing the Manorama News Conclave 2018 in Kochi on Friday, Rajawat, who became famous for representing the family of the Kathua rape victim, said a country where politicians said they would rape the dead bodies of women had progressed little.
In an emotionally charged speech, Rajawat said the country could only develop when women were treated as human beings.
Urging politicians and leaders to effect change for the good, Rajawat declared her nation was the “mother of all religions.”
The lynchings, rapes, and assaults on women implied that the country was going the regressive way.
She said the government cannot be silent when it was required to act.
“I think of my daughter as I hear of an assault. If everyone thinks so, we can be a better society,” Rajawat said.
There should be a will to protect women's rights, she said, adding there was a lacunae, even in the
judiciary.
“Being called anti-national is like getting raped and lynched daily,” Rajawat said.
Rajawat noted political will, action, and implementation was the “need of the hour”.
Rajawat confessed being termed anti-national only exposed the mindset of those making the allegations.
“The ones who raise such allegations have to read the Constitution. No one need teach me nationalism. My nationalism is all-embracing,” Rajawat said.
Urging everyone to live in “peace and happiness,” she alleged a political agenda was at play in Kathua too.
“Playing politics and bringing in religion when an eight-year-old was raped and killed speaks volumes of the state of affairs now. The powers that be were trying to scare the warriors who were taking up valiant battles now,” Rajawat declared.
“Unfortunately, I do not get an accommodation in Jammu and Kashmir. I feel bad for being like this,” Rajawat claimed.
She said a judicial officer was behind bars now for trying to assault a woman. This was the kind of change required, Rajawat said.
Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore inaugurated the Manorama News Conclave 2018 on Friday morning. Prominent ministers, judges and other thinkers are participating at the Manorama News Conclave, which is into its second edition.
Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Alphons Kanamthanam also attended the Manorama News Conclave. Other prominent speakers at the Manorama News Conclave included Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and DMK's Kanimozhi.
