Kathua barbaric rape: Did Arun Jaitley pass insensitive comment ?

Did the Finance Mnister Arun Jaitley pass a lowly, insensitive remark over the gang rape, torture and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua which has sparked growing outrage across the nation?

A poster with Arun Jaitley’s name and picture was being spread virally on social media platforms throughout the day on Saturday.

The content of the poster is:

The poster in Kannada language carries the heading as 'Maanaviyathe illada mrugagalu'  (Animals without humanity).  It is followed by a quote allegedly said by Jaitley. The translation of that quote is  - The rape of an eight-year-old girl is a small incident. Highlighting this issue will affect the revenue from tourism - Arun Jaitley.

Mr. Jaitely, would you have spoken in the same way if your daughter was there in the same place instead of that eight year old girl? Asks the poster. The poster is viral on Facebook and WhatsApp.

While sharing the poster, the users commented ‘Jaitley being a senior leader has behaved very irresponsibly by giving such a statement.’

varthabharati.in tried to check whether the finance minister has truly said so. Usually Union ministers issue their response to such incidents through their verified twitter account. Some ministers express their opinion on current affairs while speaking at some events or when asked by press. But authentic information regarding Arun Jaitley’s such statement was not found anywhere.  

But a report has been found on NDTV’s website which was published on August 22, 2014. Here is the link https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/one-small-incident-of-rape-arun-jaitley-clarifies-after-controversy-over-remark-652203 and screenshot.

This report says about a remark passed by the senior BJP leader at a tourism ministers’ conference which had sparked a controversy. "One small incident of rape in Delhi advertised world over is enough to cost us billions of dollars in terms of global tourism," Jaitley had said while speaking at the conference.

The comment had sparked a massive outrage that Jaitley had issued an insensitive statement on the gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in 2012.

Jatiley, while clarifying his statement had said, "I regret that some word that I used was construed as insensitive, that was never my intention. I have been always been very outspoken about issues relating to crime against women. I am very sensitive to these issues myself,"

At present, Jaitley who is suffering from Kidney ailment is undergoing dialyses therapy at AIIMS in Delhi. Neither he is coming to office nor has taken oath of office after being re-elected to the Rajya Sabha. It is reported that he will be taking the oath on Sunday. In these circumstances, it is too difficult to believe that he has issued a statement about the Kathua incident.

The possibilities of miscreants modifying the 2014’s statement to circulate on social media cannot be ruled out.  Many have believed the post. The support of local BJP ministrers in favor of rape accused and the prime minister making delay in condemning the heinous crime might have also forced the people to believe the Arun Jaitley’s poster to be true.