President will do well in articulating outrage for whole country: Cong on Murmu's remarks

The Congress on Thursday welcomed President Droupadi Murmu’s remarks on crimes against women in the wake of the rape-murder of a doctor in Kolkata but said she would do well in articulating the outrage for the whole country and not just one region or state.

Declaring that “enough is enough”, President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said it is time for India to wake up to the “perversion” of crimes against women and counter the mindset that sees women as “less powerful, less capable, less intelligent”.

“Those who share such views then go further and see the female as an object… We owe it to our daughters to remove the hurdles from their path of winning the freedom from fear,” Murmu said in an exclusive signed article for PTI.

Referring to the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor in a Kolkata hospital, a “dismayed and horrified” president said what is even more depressing is that it is part of a series of crimes against women.

Reacting to the President Murmu’s remarks, Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “I welcome this statement and this intervention by the President. The entire country is outraged. So it is natural that the President represents the outrage the country is feeling.” “But the country’s outrage is not just about Kolkata incident, but they are also about Farrukhabad, Kolhapur, Badlapur, Pune, Ratnagiri, Jodhpur, Katni, there are so many instances. In UP, everyday you hear about one instance or the other,” he told PTI.

The president would do well in representing and articulating the outrage of the country felt for across the country and not just one region or state, Khera said.

Murmu said no civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities. “The nation is bound to be outraged, and so am I,” she wrote.

The hard-hitting and personalised article, titled “Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough”, is the first time the president has articulated her views on the August 9 Kolkata incident that has once again shaken the conscience of the nation and led to widespread, continuing protests.