Mamata's ministers slam media for highlighting rape charges

, Aug 20: The tradition set up by

Chief Minister

is being proudly continued by her ministers now. After the state urban development minister Firhad Hakim, it is the state panchayat minister, Subrata Mukherjee, who slammed the media for bringing accusations of rape in the open.

Both the ministers said the law and order situation in the state was much better and that the media were responsible for creating an uproar over the issue of rape. However, the National Crime Records Bureau said that in 2011, West Bengal topped the country in terms of crime against women while ranked second in terms of rape cases. The state has seen 'improvement' in its position each year.

Other parties, including the Congress, an ally of the Trinamool Congress in government, slammed the ministers for attacking the media. State Congress leader Om Prakash Mitra said earlier, the Left Front used to make such comments and now it is the Trinamool Congress. The CPI(M) said Mukherjee made such a comment to satisfy his party chief Mamata Banerjee.

Popular Bengali news channel ABP Ananda said the state BJP chief, Rahul Sinha, lashed out at the Trinamool Congress saying it was a private company limited run by one owner and the workers. He said whatever these people said against the media had little effect on the viewers. According to several quarters, the current government officials were trying to divert the attention from the actual problem by attacking the media.

It can be mentioned here that some months ago, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had termed a couple of molestation cases as fake instead of taking a tough stance on the problem. This, many believe, has encouraged the criminals more. The state has seen a series of instances where women were being targetted.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from ABP Ananda)