Kathua barbaric rape: Did Arun Jaitley pass insensitive comment?
Here is the fact check about the viral poster
Did the Finance Mnister Arun Jaitley pass a lowly, insensitive remark over the gang rape, torture and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua which has sparked growing outrage across the nation?
A poster with Arun Jaitley’s name and picture was being spread virally on social media platforms throughout the day on Saturday.
The content of the poster is:
The poster in Kannada language carries the heading as ‘Maanaviyathe illada mrugagalu’ (Animals without humanity). The content of the poster followed by a quote of Arun Jaitley allegedly. The tranlsation of the quote is “The rape of an eight-year-old girl is a small incident. This issue is costing India billions in tourism,” Arun Jaitley.
Mr. Jaitely, would you have spoken in the same way if your daughter was there in the same place instead of that eight year old girl? Asks the poster. The poster has been spread virally on Facebook and WatsApp.
While sharing the poster, the users commented: “Jaitley being a senior leader have behaved very irresponsibly by giving such a statement.”
When Varthabharati.in tried to check if the finance minister has truly said so, no authentic information regarding his statement was found. Even there was no such video or post on his Twitter account or any of the TV channels have telecasted it so far.
But a report has been found on NDTV’s website which was published on August 22, 2014. Here is the link https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/one-small-incident-of-rape-arun-jaitley-clarifies-after-controversy-over-remark-652203 and screenshot.
This report says about a remark passed by the senior BJP leader at a tourism ministers’ conference which had sparked a controversy. "One small incident of rape in Delhi advertised world over is enough to cost us billions of dollars in terms of global tourism," Jaitley had said while speaking at the conference.
The comment had sparked a massive outrage that Jaitley had issued an insensitive statement on the gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in 2012.
Jatiley, while clarifying his statement had said, "I regret that some word that I used was construed as insensitive, that was never my intention. I have been always been very outspoken about issues relating to crime against women. I am very sensitive to these issues myself,"
At present, Jaitley who is suffering from Kidney ailment is undergoing dialyses therapy at AIIMS in Delhi. Neither he is coming to office nor has taken oath of office after being re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. It is reported that he will be taking the oath on Sunday. In these circumstances, it is too difficult to believe that he had stated about the Kathua incident.
The possibilities of miscreants modifying the 2014’s statement to circulate on social media cannot be ruled out. Many have believed the post. The support of local BJP MLA in the favor of rape accused and the prime minister making delay in condemning the heinous crime might have also forced the people to believe the Arun Jaitley’s poster to be true.
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Tax money pays for free ration scheme but BJP trying to take credit, says Mayawati
Lucknow (PTI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati hit out at "BJP and company" on Thursday, saying they want to take credit for providing free rations to the country's poor.
"Far from freeing the people of the country from rising inflation, poverty, unemployment and backwardness, people of BJP and company are bent on extracting electoral gains for giving the poor a little bit of ration. This is not right as this is not kindness," she wrote in Hindi on the social media platform 'X'.
"The free ration to the poor is not a favour by the BJP or the government, it comes from the tax money paid by the people. Therefore, it is inappropriate to make fun of the poor by asking them for votes in return...," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added in another post.
BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, list the government's free ration scheme in every political rally. The party has even mentioned in its manifesto that it will continue the scheme till 2029 after coming to power.
The Congress claims that it brought the law to ensure food security to the poor. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said at a joint press conference with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday that on coming to power, they will not just improve the quality of the ration but also double its quantity.
