RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment that rapes occur mainly in urban India and not in Bharat — villages — is surprising. As a citizen of India and Bharat, I would like to ask him whether women belonging to the lower castes are not raped in the villages of Bharat; whether the security personnel accused of rape in Kashmir and Chhattisgarh were not stationed in Bharat; whether a senior Congress leader from Assam was not accused of raping a woman in a village in Chirang district.
Indrani Gomatam,
Guntur
Fundamentalists envisage a nation built on the principles of religious texts, culture and practices. They uphold stories which include the “loyalty test” of a woman by god himself. In another instance, a woman is attacked over just a game of dice and is left to the mercy of god.
There are other religious codes which demand perpetual dependence of women on men, glorify sati, promote the caste system, and call women inferior. Rape is only one of the many manifestations of such thinking.
K.D. Pemmaiah,
New Delhi
A rape is a rape and it destroys the victim’s body and soul. It is a crime against humanity. The Constitution clearly says “India that is Bharat,” which means there is no difference between Bharat and India.
Irresponsible comments by politicians show that our leadership is going from bad to worse.
Rajat Rajan Singh,
Lucknow
