Shabana Azmi Breaks Down As She Reacts To Release Of Bilkis Bano Gang Rape Convicts; ‘I Am Ashamed’

Veteran
actress
Shabana
Azmi
recently
broke
into
tears
while
talking
with
a
news
portal
about
the
release
of
the
11
convicts
in
the
Bilkis
Bano
gangrape
case.
The
actress
said
that
she
is
deeply
ashamed
over
the
recent
development
and
the
society’s
silence
in
general
in
this
case.

While
expressing
her
horror
over
the
release
of
the
convicts,
Shabana
told
NDTV,
“I
have
no
words
(for
Bilkis
Bano)
except
that
I
am
deeply
ashamed.
I
have
no
other
words.
This
woman
has
had
such
a
huge
tragedy.
And
yet
she
didn’t
lose
courage.
She
fought
all
the
way.
She
got
these
people
convicted
and,
like
her
husband
says,
just
when
she’s
about
to
bring
her
life
together,
this
great
travesty
of
justice
happens…Shouldn’t
we
be
shouting
from
the
rooftops
so
that
justice
is
done
to
this
person?
And
the
women
who
are
feeling
unsafe
in
this
country,
women
who
face
the
threat
of
rape
every
day
–
shouldn’t
they
get
some
sense
of
security?”

Shabana
said
that
after
the
convicts
were
released,
she
expected
an
‘outpouring
of
outrage’,
adding
that
she
waited
for
two-three
days
but
there
was
very
little
visibility
in
the
media.

The
actress
continued,
“They
said,
‘But
what’s
the
big
deal?
They
have
already
served
the
sentence,
ab
kya
shor
machana
(why
create
a
fuss
now)?’
They
weren’t
even
fully
cognizant
of
what
had
happened,
they
weren’t
even
aware
that
these
11
convicts
had
been
released.
I
was
just
stunned
that
this
could
happen.
Even
now
I
think
there
is
not
enough
understanding
of
the
injustice
and
horror
of
what
has
happened.”

Shabana
further
condemned
the
release
of
the
culprits
of
such
a
heinous
crime
and
questioned
the
kind
of
message
that’s
given
to
women
and
children
when
the
convicts
were
felicitated
and
laddoos
were
distributed
after
their
release
from
the
jail.

The
actress
told
the
portal
that
she
was
baffled
that
of
all
countries,
this
development
happened
in
this
country,
where
people
took
to
the
streets
in
the
Nirbhaya
case.
She
further
added
that
she
couldn’t
imagine
the
justification
being
offered
about
the
convicts
being
“Brahmins”
and
“from
good
families”.

For
the
unversed,
Bilkis
Bano
was
five
months
pregnant
when
she
was
gang
raped
and
several
members
of
her
family
including
her
three-year
old
daughter
were
killed
during
the
communal
violence
of
2002
Gujarat
riots.

The
11
accused
in
this
case
were
sentenced
to
life
imprisonment
by
the
Special
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation
(CBI)
court
in
Mumbai
on
January
21,
2008.
However,
the
Gujarat
Government
released
the
convicts
under
the
remission
policy
on
August
15
after
they
served
more
than
15
years
in
prison.