Protesting Nirbhaya convict's interview: Jaya Bachchan's double standards are appalling

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for 15 minutes on Wednesday after women MPs led by Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan stormed the well of the house seeking action against the authorities of the Tihar Jail for allowing an interview of one of the convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape case of 2012.

MPs like Tulsi and Tharoor supported airing of the documentary

While BJP MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi assured the opposition that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had taken cognizance of the fact, senior lawyer and MP KTS Tulsi found no wrong in the interview and said there should be more such interviews to get into the minds of such criminals for making rules. Lok Sabha MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor also supported the idea of airing the documentary.

"We must face up to our own horrors & change," he said in a Facebook post.

The male MPs look more objective in this regard than their female counterparts.

But Jaya Bachchan's reactions to rape cases are selective

Take for example, the curious case of Jaya Bachchan, wife of legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan. When the supremo of the SP, Mulayam Singh Yadav, made a horrendous standard during the Lok Sabha election last year that rape is a mistake committed by boys, the actor was not seen reacting the same way as she did after the Nirbhaya gangrape. In fact, she was silent.

Why?

Does Jaya Bachchan make rape a political tool?

Because Nirbhaya was raped in Delhi where two Congress governments were in power (Centre and Delhi) in December 2012? And why is she raising a strong voice over the convict's interview now? Since a BJP government is in power at the Centre now?

Uttar Pradesh, which is governed by Jaya Bachchan's party, sees an endless number of rape and crime against women. The gangrape and murder of a 32-year-old woman on the outskirts of Lucknow in July last year was no less gruesome than the Nirbhaya incident. Did Jaya Bachchan shed tears on that issue as well, as she had done so expressively in the wake of the Delhi crime.

Icons crumble before politics: Unfortunate but true

It is unfortunate that icons in this country too determine their roles by the yardstick of politics. If as noted individuals, they can not display a consistency of stand on an issue, they have no business asserting themselves when they belong to a lot of a particular political colour and create a superficial sound in the Parliament.

If you can't question your political boss's supremacy Mrs Bachchan, then please think less about such sensitive issues.

India needs a solution for real issues, not drama from actors

Whether the jail authorities allowed the interviewer to reach the convict is not important here. The bigger question is: How long can India afford to get fooled by the crocodile tears when it has a herculean task of saving its women from deadly threats?