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Rape remark: Congress protests outside Jaitley house

| | Aug 22, 2014, at 09:50 pm
New Delhi, Aug 22 (IBNS): The Congress workers led a protest outside the residence of the Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to condemn his remark terming the "December 16 gangrape case as a small incident" that cost Indian tourism heavily.

Congress leader and spokesperson Rashid Alvi said "it is unfortunate that a minister made such a comment." He said its  shows his own and the government's way of thinking.

Jaitley had said at a tourism promotion conference of ministers: “One small incident of rape in Delhi advertised world over is enough to cost us billions of dollars in terms of global tourism.”

Arun Jaitley on Friday clarified his stand saying his intention behind the statement of “one small incident of rape” was not to trivialise any incident.

Jaitley said: “I regret that my speech was construed, or some word that I used was construed as insensitive, that was not my intention. I am very sensitive to these issues myself.”

He said there was “no question” of trivialising any incident.

The statement was seen as an insensitive approach towards the 2012 Delhi gang-rape incident when a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was assaulted and gang-raped on a moving bus by six men who also tortured her with an iron rod. She died later.

The incident shocked the entire nation and was condemned worldwide, triggering an angry outcry by civil society members to bring changes in laws on crimes against women.

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