West Bengal Assembly unanimously passes state anti-rape Bill
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the state anti-rape Bill after Opposition lend full support to it.
The proposed amendments to the Bill moved by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were, however, not accepted by the House.
The draft legislation seeks capital punishment for persons convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state.
Additionally, it stipulates a life sentence without parole for those convicted of rape.
Titled the 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024,' the legislation aims to strengthen protections for women and children by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences.
A two-day special session of the assembly has been summoned on Monday in the wake of the rape-murder of a woman medic at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last month.
The Bill was tabled by state Law Minister Moloy Ghatak.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
