Fading Authority

The harassment of BJP leader and Union Minister Raksha Khadse’s daughter and her friends in Jalgaon district last week transcends the confines of a mere law enforcement failure to be an indictment of a crumbling system. That the perpetrators, now facing charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and POCSO Act, were emboldened enough to harass the daughter of a senior leader from the ruling party despite her security detail points to a state where criminals have lost their fear of consequence.

The brazenness of the crime is matched only by its implications. If the offspring of a Union minister is unsafe in her own political stronghold, what does that say about the security of ordinary women? The incident lays bare the deteriorating state of women’s safety in Maharashtra and further tarnishes the image of the Mahayuti government in general and the Home Department led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in particular. It is a damning commentary on an administration that projects itself as tough on crime while failing to rein in lawlessness even in its own ranks.

That one of the accused has four prior cases registered against him makes it clear that the system has not been working as it should. Reports suggest that these men had been harassing schoolgirls regularly. Khadse herself revealed that her daughter had been targeted at another public event just days earlier. And yet, no action was taken then, allowing the perpetrators to act with impunity despite the fact that Jalgaon has long been the stronghold of the Khadse clan.

The case has also exposed the uncomfortable political linkages of the accused. The suspects are reportedly associated with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, an ally of the ruling BJP. This makes it politically awkward for the Mahayuti government. While Fadnavis has assured strict action, his words ring hollow in the face of rising crimes against women in Maharashtra, given the revelations in Khadse’s daughter’s come soon after the infamous Pune bus rape incident. The Congress has already pounced on the issue, condemning the government’s failure to ensure safety even for a minister’s family.

There is an irony that is hard to miss here. Last year, Maharashtra made history by appointing Sujata Saunik as its first woman Chief Secretary. Incidentally, Saunik had once served as the district collector of Jalgaon, and her appointment as CS represents a symbolic milestone for women in governance. But what does her appointment signify if women in the state, whether the daughters of ministers or ordinary citizens, cannot walk freely without fear of harassment?

The incident in Muktainagar underscores the stark gap between token gestures of empowerment and the grim reality on the ground. It exposes the hollowness of the promises made by the Mahayuti, which won a thumping mandate in the Assembly polls last year. It exposes the hollowness of the Mahayuti’s claims of progress, where the appointment of a woman to the highest bureaucratic post coincides with the state’s inability to protect its women. Unless law enforcement agencies act decisively, the promise of women’s empowerment will remain just that - a promise, unfulfilled and meaningless.