New Delhi: BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan today demanded December 16 to be made an annual pledge day against violence towards women in memory of the paramedical student who was gang-raped on this day a year ago.
Vardhan also said that if the BJP had been able to form a government through the just-concluded elections, he as CM would have made public its first resolution for guaranteeing safety of women in Delhi's public space. “December 16 should be recalled in perpetuity by governments and people for the need to protect women and girls from sex criminals.
“It will be a day to reiterate our nation's resolve to protect women who are victims of abuse and rape,” he said. Vardhan said that since Delhi has no elected government at this point of time, the central government which would administer through the Lieutenant-Governor, should ensure that the “rape capital” stigma is removed.
“The Sheila Dikshit government which ruled Delhi for 15 years failed miserably in the crucial area of ensuring women's safety and so rape and molestation became a part of everyday life,” he said.
Attacking Dikshit's regime, Vardhan said that the Delhi government had made many announcements after the tragedy but most remained unfulfilled even after passing of an year.
Listing some of the unfulfilled promises, he said, “Home guards to be posted in all buses operating under public transport, all public transport buses to have sufficient lighting in them, all crossing to be monitored by CCTV, all vulnerable traffic points to have police barricading, all the dark spots of Delhi would be marked and illuminated by sodium lights.”
