Government on Thursday cast doubts on the veracity of the NHRC report which ruled out rape in Bhatta-Parsaul during the recent farmers’ agitation, saying one report cannot negate all the charges.
“Other agencies have gone and confirmed that women were treated in a way which we are all against. Let us see. Views and counter views are coming. Let me see from where these reports have come,” minister of information and broadcasting Ambika Soni told reporters.
Congress general secretaries Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh had visited Bhatta-Parsaul during the agitation. Gandhi had later claimed that women were raped after the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh ordered a crackdown on the agitators and forced them to flee from the two villages.
Asked specifically about the National Human Rights Commission giving a clean chit to the UP government on these allegations, Soni maintained that the manner in which the body had conducted its study may have to be looked into.
“I do not want to comment on who had gone there from NHRC, whom did they talk to and how much time they spent there. I have full hope that they would have tried their best. But in such matters many a times people hesitate in asking questions,” Soni said.
“How much trust can the person win from the victims. Are they ready to speak to them?” she asked.
Soni insisted that the National Commission for Women (NCW), which had also visited the affected areas, came up with a version different from the NHRC.
“Women from the National Commission for Women had gone there. Many a times it is easier for a woman to talk to a woman. One report cannot negate the whole thing,” Soni said.