{"id":7340,"date":"2026-04-19T20:51:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/?p=7340"},"modified":"2026-04-19T20:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:28:32","slug":"politicizing-tragedy-abhaya-justice-movement-decries-electoral-exploitation-as-victims-mother-enters-west-bengal-election-fray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/?p=7340","title":{"rendered":"Politicizing Tragedy: Abhaya Justice Movement Decries ‘Electoral Exploitation’ as Victim\u2019s Mother Enters West Bengal Election Fray"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Political Exploitation or Justice? Abhaya\u2019s Mother\u2019s Entry into Election Sparking Turmoil in Justice Movement<\/h1>\n

Kolkata <\/b>\u2014 Before reacting on Abhaya’s Mom decision on contesting election from Panihati West Bengal<\/strong> aggressively (\u201c\u09b0\u09c7 \u09b0\u09c7 \u0995\u09b0\u09c7\u201d), please first check whose post the picture actually is.<\/p>\n

See how the so-called \u201cHindu warriors\u201d<\/strong> of the BJP\u2014who claim to be Hindu but act against the very principles of the religion\u2014have turned this into a vote business. Their main attraction has become Abhaya. To forcefully expand into West Bengal, they are using and \u201cselling\u201d that night\u2019s image of Abhaya on social media for election \u092a\u094d\u0930\u091a\u093e\u0930.<\/p>\n

Those of us who have been part of the Abhaya movement<\/strong> for the past one and a half years could never even imagine that day\u2014so even today, we blurred the image before sharing it. Just like how, through false promises, BJP has taken away the helpless parents from a mass movement and used them for votes. Going door to door, they are selling people\u2019s emotions and tears\u2014using a bereaved mother\u2019s grief to expand their dominance. And that grieving mother has been drawn into that trap.<\/p>\n

The same mother whom the world once respected as their own is now being used to insult that very humanity. The people who stood day and night\u2014through storms, heat, rain, and cold\u2014demanding justice for her daughter, protesting the brutal killing of a working woman, have now been separated from those parents through political manipulation.<\/p>\n

We had protected that mother, tried to comfort her so she wouldn\u2019t break down remembering her daughter. Now seeing her weakened, wandering under the harsh sun\u2014it\u2019s hard to accept. I feel like running to her, holding her, and saying again:<\/p>\n

\u201cKakima, we must keep fighting together. Just like we wanted\u2014we will break the system and snatch justice for Abhaya. We must continue this fight and make it even stronger.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But now, even if I want to, I cannot allow Abhaya to lose just to let BJP win. I stand in the fight for Abhaya\u2019s justice.<\/p>\n

From beginning to end, there are only two sides:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who want justice for Abhaya\u2014punishment for all who raped, killed, burned her, and destroyed evidence.<\/p>\n

Those who want to protect those criminals and let Abhaya lose\u2014essentially siding with the rapists.<\/p>\n

In the second camp, responsibility lies with the system itself\u2014state police, leaders, as well as central agencies like the CBI and their leadership. Just as the state police suppressed evidence early on to block investigation, similarly the CBI at the center suppressed the remaining evidence. Even after the parents repeatedly went to Delhi, justice was reduced to a mockery. If there was no internal \u201csetting,\u201d then even after 20 months, someone like Sandip Ghosh wouldn\u2019t just be in a token jail situation. Despite permissions, the CBI couldn\u2019t even file a charge sheet in 20 months.<\/p>\n

Why? Because exposing one would expose others too. Corruption and political ties on both sides are intertwined.<\/p>\n

In all these 20 months of protest, we never shared or even wanted to see the horrific image of Abhaya from that night. Just imagining what she went through is unbearable. I have protested every single day. A few days ago, I shared a video showing how the state police tried to secretly take away her body at night to destroy evidence\u2014so people don\u2019t forget. That video was even covered by ABP Ananda. It showed no image of her face\u2014only the attempt to remove evidence and the protestors trying to stop it.<\/p>\n

Yet I received threatening calls, saying I reminded people of that painful night and tried to break the \u201csetting.\u201d Later, I received messages too\u2014though I won\u2019t reveal who sent them.<\/p>\n

So my question is this:<\/strong>
\nToday, BJP is openly using her face for votes\u2014selling Abhaya every day in election campaigns. What is the reaction of those grieving parents to this? Since it\u2019s their own party, will there be no case or punishment for such actions?<\/p>\n

Whether people accept it or not, those who stood for 20 months demanding justice never did politics\u2014in fact, they protected Abhaya from being politicized. She was never allowed to be placed under any party flag.<\/p>\n

And now, those BJP supporters who never stood even a single day in protest are suddenly using movement videos and even stealing protest songs for election campaigning.<\/p>\n

One final question:<\/strong> Is BJP seeking justice for Abhaya\u2014or using Abhaya for votes?<\/em><\/h3>\n

Written by Debmalya Bhattacharyya, Director Abhaya Rape Free India movement\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Political Exploitation or Justice? Abhaya\u2019s Mother\u2019s Entry into Election Sparking Turmoil in Justice Movement Kolkata \u2014 Before reacting on Abhaya’s Mom decision on contesting election from Panihati West Bengal aggressively (\u201c\u09b0\u09c7 \u09b0\u09c7 \u0995\u09b0\u09c7\u201d), please first check whose post the picture actually is. See how the so-called \u201cHindu warriors\u201d of the BJP\u2014who claim to be Hindu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bengaluru"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":112,"today_views":0},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7340"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7346,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340\/revisions\/7346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianow.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}