Over 40,000 from 29 districts of Karnataka ask CJI to put Bilkis Bano rapists back in jail for life

The signature campaign is only the latest in a series of agitations and protests the group has staged in Karnataka against the remission of sentences of Bilkis Bano’s rapists and her family’s murderers.

“This was done completely on foot in almost all the districts of Karnataka. We didn’t use social media or campaigning portals. We didn’t use online campaign for signatures, so we could have direct conversations and interactions with people,” said Madhu Bhushan, a women’s rights activist with Gamana Mahila Samuha.

‘No Indian wants this’

The 40,000-plus signatures endorsing the letter represents 40,000 individual conversations regarding the case — each a dialogue lasting between five and 30 minutes — a good deal of them documented.

These conversations were conducted on streets, slum communities, malls, apartment complexes, colleges, in front of temples, mosques and churches, at bus stands, metro stations and auto stands, and the signatories were drawn from all walks of life.

“We spoke to a group of women and men regarding the issue. There was fear, confusion and anger in people. No Indian wants this. This is scary and beyond tolerable,” on campaign volunteer said.

“How does it matter what religion she comes from or what caste the rapists come from? Does that justify the violence of rape that was done to her?”

Volunteers spoke to people from all walks of lives — auto drivers, construction workers, beedi workers, flower sellers, domestic workers and pourakarmikas, tribals in forests, farmers in villages and urbanites in different towns and cities, activists and advocates, sex workers, students, government functionaries, men, women, gender and sexual minorities, journalists, and members of workers’ unions.

‘Even government officials signed’

“Even government officials like police officers and employees of the Women and Child Welfare Department signed the petition,” Elavarthi said.

“College students told us that this is for a good cause and that it is our responsibility to stand with Blikis. They themselves called other friends and asked them to sign,” one volunteer said.

“One of the volunteers went to a xerox shop to photocopy the signature sheets for the campaign. After reading and understanding what it was all about, the shopkeeper did not charge us anything and he himself showed solidarity and signed,” he added.

“Many women we spoke to said that if we respect and felicitate the rapists with garlands and sweets like this, how can we save the girl child in the next generation,” said a woman volunteer.

“These conversations, on justice for Bilkis, were tragically not easy given the prevailing atmosphere in the country that has been polarised on religious and caste lines,” women’s rights activist Bhushan told South First.

Those who did not sign

“When a volunteer initiated a conversation with a random citizen on Bilkis Bano, he asked: ‘Why are you collecting signatures for a woman from another state and that too a Muslim’,” an activist said.

A street vendor in Bengaluru refused to sign, saying he had seen the film Kashmir Files and, therefore, wanted justice for Kashmiri Hindus before he signed the petition for Bilkis, a volunteer stated.

Even more tragically, several from the Muslim community were afraid to sign the petition fearing that they would be targeted.

“What was encouraging was that despite resistance from some to sign the petition, thousands of ordinary citizens from all communities were able to clearly speak out against this form of violence against women even while condemning the politics of hate and polarisation within which the violence against Bilkis could be justified and the criminal action of the convicts be condoned,” said Vinay K Sreenivasa, an activist and advocate.

These were only some of the thousands of one-to-one conversations shared by hundreds of volunteers who participated in this unique signature campaign initiated by Karnataka With Bilkis.

What the petition says

Upholding the need for justice, Karnataka With Bilkis unequivocally condemned the remission and demanded the following from the Chief Justice from India:

1. The remission granted to the 11 convicts must be revoked and they must be sent back to jail for life. After the Nirbhaya case, the changes in remission policy since 2014 already recognise that rape and murder are heinous crimes that do not deserve remission.
2. Grant Bilkis Bano and her family all the necessary security to protect them from further threats and harassment, restore to them their right to rebuild their lives, live in peace and find normalcy. Protection also needs to be provided to witnesses and supporters.

“Sending these 11 back to jail as per law will communicate to the people of India that the Supreme Court will work to ensure the dignity, freedom and safety of all women, especially those from vulnerable and targeted communities. Karnataka With Bilkis hopes that the Chief Justice of India will pay heed to all these voices across the country that have spoken out against the remission and felicitation of rapists and murderers, and uphold our constitutional values restoring our faith in an unbiased, fair and conscientious judiciary.” petition said.

About the Bilkis Bano case

Bilkis Bano was gang raped by 11 men during the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in February 2002.

Bilkis, who was also pregnant at the time, also had to witness the brutal killing of her three-year-old daughter and the gang rape of her mother, sister and aunts, all of whom were among the 14 killed members of her family killed by a mob of 25 men. She survived only because the attackers thought she was dead.

A trial Court in Mumbai in 2008 convicted the 11 men and the High Court in May 2017 upheld the order awarding them life imprisonment.

The BJP-governed Gujarat government granted remission to all the 11 convicts on 15 August this year.

The remission — based on the recommendations of a committee set up by the Gujarat government, members of which justified their release by saying they were “sanskari Brahmins” — led to widespread protests across the country by women’s groups and other civil society organisations.