Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday stepped up his attack on senior lawyer Kapil Sibal over the latter’s remarks on the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital. Referring to Sibal’s statements, where he had termed the tragic incident a "symptomatic malaise", Dhankhar said such “stray voices” are a cause for concern as they only aggravate "our excruciating pain”.
“When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly, they are adding salt to our injured conscience,” Dhankhar said while addressing an event at AIIMS Rishikesh.
“What do they say? 'It is a symptomatic malaise, a frequent incident'. When it comes from someone who is the Member of Parliament, a senior advocate, then the culpability is of an extreme degree," he said, reported NDTV.
Sibal, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, stated in a purported SCBA resolution that the tragic incident was a "symptomatic malaise" and suggested that such incidents are commonplace.
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Condemning his remark, Dhankhar said this is not an occasion where one should look through a prism of politics. "There can be no alibi for such kind of demonising thoughts. I call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender an apology," he added.
On Friday, while addressing students at Delhi University's Bharti College during an event, Dhankhar had lashed out at Sibal, saying he was appalled on seeing the MP’s statement on the Kolkata incident.
“I am appalled; I am pained and somewhat surprised that someone holding a position in the Supreme Court Bar, a Member of Parliament, acting in a manner, and what does he say? A symptomatic malaise and suggested that such incidents are commonplace? What a shame! Words fail me in condemning such a stance. It is doing the greatest injustice to the high position," he had said.
Dhankhar had observed Sibal’s statements were akin to trivialising the suffering of girls. "For partisan interest? For self-interest? You take a stance, leveraging your authority to perpetrate such kind of heinous injustice on our girls and women? What can be a greater injustice to humanity?,” he had asked.
A trainee doctor was raped and murdered while on duty at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College Hospital last month, sparking widespread protests across the country. The accused has been arrested, even as the CBI took over the probe following a high court order.
