When the Brij Bhushans and Revannas are protected

Many political leaders in the country have been accused of sexual harassment. Due to the allegations, the positions of many people in the government and the party were lost. For others, the political career itself has sunk. Cases and legal proceedings often proceed despite efforts to wipe them out through political interference and high-profile influence. In some cases, the accused have been acquitted by the court and they returned to politics. However, the most serious sexual harassment scandal against political leaders in the recent past has been reported in Karnataka. The allegation is against Prajwal Revanna, the current MP of the Janata Dal (Secular), a party now in the NDA coalition led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a candidate for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

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The pen drive containing more than a thousand sexual videos came out shortly before the polling for the Hasan Lok Sabha seat, where Revanna is contesting, on April 26 and the issue is heating up. It was alleged that it contained footage, including of minor girls, and many of the videos were shot by Prajwal Revanna, who is also the grandson of the former prime minister. Based on the complaint filed by the former domestic worker regarding his sexual assault, the Karnataka government has formed a special investigation team and is proceeding with the case. There are arguments that the scenes are not real, but morphed and part of a conspiracy. In 2023, Prajwal Revanna, who obtained a gag order by approaching the High Court restraining the media from reporting on the matter when some obscene footage was circulated through WhatsApp, has not yet responded to the same. If media reports are to be believed, he has left the country and crossed over to Germany. Like Nityananda, who left the country while being investigated in a rape case, who helped Prajwal Revanna to skip town overnight?

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The reactions of the responsible authorities and leaders in this regard are as shocking as the allegations levelled against the current Lok Sabha member Prajwal Revanna. His father and Karnataka legislator H.D. Revanja, when media workers queried him, said that these videos were not new but four or five years old. It is argued that some BJP leaders knew this long ago and asked him not to contest. BJP leader G Devaraja Gowda, who contested last year's assembly elections and lost in Holanarasipur, pointed this out in a letter sent to BJP state president Vijayendra in December 2023. Some media reports also suggested that Home Minister Amit Shah had even asked Prajwal not to contest. Should the public assume that despite knowing about the incident, Amit Shah did not inquire about the situation with the intelligence department or that Prajwal rejected the suggestion of a leader like Amit Shah and the party made him the NDA candidate? The prime minister, who has been spewing bitter hatred and clear lies against the country's minorities and opposition parties at all the campaign meeting venues, came to Mysuru amid applause from BJP leaders and said that every vote given to Prajwal will strengthen Modi.

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Despite the controversy, neither Modi nor Amit Shah have made any public response. The media is not very enthusiastic either because it is against the leader of the NDA. Neither the National Commission for Women nor the women leaders of the BJP, who flew to Sandeshkhali in Bengal, where allegations were made against the Trinamool local leader, seemed to not care about this. It is another matter that they have no moral right to respond to these events. The Modi-Amit Shah-Smriti Irani gang is also backing the BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was also the head of the wrestling federation and is being accused of consistent sexual harassment by most esteemed wrestlers of the country who raised India's flag in international tournaments including Olympics. How can BJP leaders address the issue of Prajwal when they are supporting Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh? Those who released from jail the criminals who gang-raped Bilkis Banu and welcomed them with flower garlands may not feel that what Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Prajwal did was a crime.

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People are realising the truth of the words and guarantees of the Prime Minister and his associates, who boast about women's power and shout slogans like 'Beti Bachao', even before the elections are over. If we don't recognize it and respond legally and democratically, the safety of the country's women will become more precarious.