It is with deep concern that we address the recent decision of Indian national Congress to award Lal Singh a ticket for the upcoming local elections in Basholi, Kathua, J&K. Lal Singh, a turncoat politician, stands in stark contrast to the principles of protection and justice that are central to the values of the INC. Lal Singh refers himself as a Dogra and a Chaudhry but can never truly be one as a ‘real’ Chaudhry and a Dogra is a protector of the people.

His actions during the tragic Kathua case were troubling, to say the least.

Lal Singh’s continued defence and support of the perpetrators of one of the most heinous crimes in modern Indian history—the gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua—demonstrates his disregard for justice and human dignity. The victim was brutally assaulted, raped, and murdered in a manner that shocked the nation. Details of this atrocity can be revisited in the Times of India article “Kathua’s Shame” from 2018, by clicking here-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/dev-vani/kathuas-shame/

For this post, we will just repeat the words which appeared in the media of the times and were the remarks of the investigation team and we quote-

“The victim was kidnapped and then gang-raped for a week inside a temple. She was brutally assaulted to the length that her uterus had come out from her private part.

“Subsequently, the unconscious victim was strangled and her head was hit twice with a stone ‘to make sure’ she was dead,” said a special police officer Deepak. The police investigation states, “The unconscious body of the victim was taken to a nearby forest and before murdering her once again she was gang-raped.”

Our heads hang in shame even today by reading the lines above.

Lal Singh being allowed to run for MLA on a ticket of a secular and inclusive leading party like Congress is torturing the very soul of that little age and making mockery of her memory and of thousands of women and girls in India who face brutal rape and torture at the hands of savages who use these incidences as tools to “teach” lessons to communities.

This man, Lal Singh may portray himself as a “changed” man to the Congress leadership but carries a dark soul which can show its dark intentions and true colors any time.

A man who can favor anyone in the name of religion to make mockery of a girl victim is the worst of the lot and Congress MUST ACT NOW to stop this man from representing it in days ahead.

We still hope that Mr. Rahul Gandhi and the senior leadership of Congress will ensure withdrawal of candidature of this man from their party’s platform to enable isolation of such disturbing elements from the political stream.

Yet if this man is allowed to fight the election on Congress ticket, then despite being a supporter of Congress and its policies and leadership, our ideals and ethics must come first.

All secular and forward thinking people of the world must continue to oppose and stand up to such people like Lal Singh and we hope that the people of Kathua reject this hate monger and end his political dreams for times to come.