“BOYS will make mistakes,” Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said of rape, on Thursday. ... Mr. Yadav believes new rape laws ... are being misused by women to punish their boyfriends. … [His] lieutenant, Abu Asim Azmi, meanwhile invoked Sharia law to call for the death penalty — but, for the victim.

…[T]hese kinds of attitudes aren’t exclusive to the Samajwadi Party. From the Rajasthan legislator who thinks rape happens because schoolgirls wear skirts to the Puducherry minister who wants them covered up in overcoats … there is no shortage of Indians willing to blame rape on anything and everyone other than the rapist. … The hideous truth is that in India … there is something that can only be described as a pro-rapist lobby that extends beyond political pulpits into streets and homes. — (April 12)

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...