"Heckling Rape Victim's Mother Not Anybody's Culture": Smriti Irani To NDTV On Bengal Result

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) maintained a strong lead across a large number of seats while counting progressed on Monday in the West Bengal Assembly elections, former Union Minister Smriti Irani lashed out against allegations that her party's win would end the cultural aspect of Bengal, saying that "raping someone is not part of anybody's culture."

When asked if it is the end of Bengal, which was once the "melting pot of cultures," Irani told NDTV, "You cannot say raping a woman is a part of anybody's culture. You cannot say that cut money is a part of anybody's culture. You cannot say support for illegal immigrants is anybody's culture. You cannot say heckling a rape victim's mother on the streets of Kolkata is anybody's culture.

"The chief minister of the state says, 'Why should women get out of the house?' To begin with, this is not anybody's culture. So these people who had these lofty opinions about culture need to answer as to why they held their peace and why they stayed silent when people were being slaughtered only because they had a public and political opinion," Irani added.

Irani further questioned the silence over the violence in Diamond Harbour's Falta. "Why did they keep quiet when in Falta you saw people coming out in hordes, saying that they were being literally threatened with the rape of female members of their family? It is their death knell, which the Bengali voters have assured," Irani said. 

Irani said people voted for the BJP despite threats and thanked them for their support. She said, "It is extremely difficult when you have Gundas crawling all over who are threatening you with death, who are threatening you with rape of family female members. So today is genuinely a day to give thanks to that voter who, irrespective of threats, irrespective of displays of violence, and irrespective of a history of violence that was instrumentalised by the Trinamool as a weapon of state, cast their vote. It is a day to give thanks to them."

Irani said the people of Bengal voted for the BJP due to the party's track record of good governance and bringing in change. "More than anything else, it is the people of West Bengal today who have responded as to whether the BJP can be depended upon to deliver on issues of good governance, and if anything else, it is the BJP's track record that has been evidenced under Prime Minister Modi's leadership. Today the Bengali voters guarantee that this is the man; this is the institution that will be the harbinger of change," Irani said.