Vikas Barala Case: It’s time for BJP to prove that it’s “Beti Bachao” Slogan was not just rhetoric

To set a precedence, BJP should dismiss Subhash Barala immediately.

The irony is that I was writing this piece on the auspicious occasion of Rakshabandhan. There was a post by Anand Neelakantan on how to be like Ravana, the ideal brother to Soorpanakha. Few days ago, Shekhar Gupta ridiculed a circular by the Administration of Daman & Diu. The circular was celebrating Rakshabandhan with an instruction for female staff to tie Rakhis to their male colleagues. Maybe this move was aimed at improving ‘sense of security’ of women employees. However, the revered intellectual that our Guptaji was, he found a fault in this attempt and expressed his desire to rename Diu as Republic of “Bhai-Behanjistan”. Maybe he could not control his obsession to criticise anything that is good, but stemmed from this land.

Anyway, Guptaji is a pen-soldier. Real and Physical damage to the idea comes from those whose children suffer from “Jaanta Hai, Mera Baap Kaun Hai?” syndrome. Maybe some of them are sincerely searching for their real fathers.

It is a normal feeling that females in cities and those who belong to families of officers are safer. Proving safety is relative, a daughter of an IAS officer was stalked and faced an attempt to kidnap. For the accused, maybe it was a routine, but he was not a petty criminal. He was the son of state President of BJP, Haryana. And the incident occurred in the city of Chandigarh.

Vikas Barala, son of Subhash Barala, President of Haryana unit of BJP allegedly stalked the girl. He and his friend banged on the doors of the car in which the girl locked herself in. Responding to her calls, Police came and arrested them. The police and the girl probably realised Subhash Barala was the son of a powerful political leader, only after his arrest.

As the girl and then her father, took to social media narrating the horror, sort of pressure was already created on the government to act on the accused. The response of Manohar Lal Khattar was really disappointing and disturbing. He felt the case has nothing to do with Subhash Barala, but an individual case and thus be dealt so. Given the fact that Khattar became chief minister exposing and exploiting the land deals of Robert Vadra, this only shows how political power affects even those who are relatively new to it. The language he spoke was used by the Congress since independence. The line he quoted “Let the law take its course” is patented by the Congress. I don’t think Haryana voted him to power to borrow some quotations from the lexicon of Congress.

Then came the more disturbing news – that of disappearance of CCTV footages, which the Chandigarh Police, claims to have recovered now. These were vital to prove the involvement of Vikas Barala. Even Kirron Kher had assured she got information that CCTV footage is in the safety of the Police and she got assurance that the case would see its logical conclusion, few questions would continue to perturb our minds.

What state unit of BJP in Haryana want to prove? Son of its president was arrested and bailed out. His father went incommunicado and so no explanation from him. His deputy, Ramveer Bhatti however questioned why the girl was out so late. He further lectured on good parenting advising girls to return home early. Maybe he has so much confidence in his own government he too stays put in the safety of his home at nights.

Then started the character assassination of the girl by posting her pictures drinking. What they missed here is they simply have no rights to talk about the girl. If the allegations are proved true, Vikas Barala has certainly committed a wrong, and should be condemned in unequivocal terms. The point of debate here is about the ‘character’ of Vikas Barala, whose father claims to uphold the ‘dharma’ of the land. And that dharma says, he should be immediately resign from his post. If he doesn’t go, then the party shall dismiss him.

In case if the party doesn’t act on him, they better remember what happened to Congress. A woman’s curse pulled down many a mighty empire. It is time for Khattar becomes a Khattar and take action on both father and son. Removal of Subhash Barala has nothing to do with the case, but would set a precedence to all other party leaders so they start living the lives that they preach to others.