NCW seeks action against Bhim Army chief for remarks against women

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought police action against Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad for allegedly making derogatory and defamatory remarks against women. However, Aazad has claimed innocence saying the tweets were not made by him.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma has written a letter to the Uttar Pradesh DGP, HC Awasthy, saying that the commission has taken cognizance of Aazad’s tweets, “wherein it is seen that derogatory and defamatory statements have been made against women by him.”

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“The commission has taken note of the rise in cyber harassment and use of derogatory statements in cyberspace against women amounts to serious offence under law,” she said in the letter. In view of the above, it is requested that action shall be taken against the culprit as per the relevant provisions of law to avoid recurrence of the crime in the future, she added.

However, Aazad has clarified that he was in jail during the period when the tweets were made, and that he knows nothing about these tweets.

मेरे एकाउंट से महिलाओं पर अभद्र भाषा के कुछ ट्वीट वायरल हो रहे हैं, जो कि बहुत निंदनीय है। ज्ञात हो कि सहारनपुर हिंसा के संदर्भ में मैं 08/06/2017 से 14/09/2018 तक जेल में था।

विवादित ट्वीट इसी दौरान के हैं जिस संबंध मुझे जानकारी नही है। मैं महिलाओं का बहुत सम्मान करता हूँ। 1/2 pic.twitter.com/vU5jo4bp43

— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) June 18, 2020

“Some tweets of hate speech on women are going viral from my account. I want to explain that I was in jail from 08/06/2017 to 14/09/2018 in the case of Saharanpur violence. These tweets belong to this period, which I do not know about. I respect women very much,” he said in a tweet.

स्पष्ट कर दूं कि यह ट्विटर एकाउंट फरवरी 2018 में बना है और मैं सितंबर 2018 में जेल से रिहा हुआ। किसी कार्यकर्ता ने मुझे यह एकाउंट दिया।

बाबा साहेब का सिपाही हूँ और बहन बेटियों का सम्मान सर्वोपरि है। ट्वीट बहुत ही गलत हैं। मैं एकाउंट में सुधार कर रहा हूँ। जय भीम, जय भारत। 2/2

— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) June 18, 2020

“Let me clarify that this Twitter account was created in February 2018 and I was released from jail in September 2018. Some worker gave me this account. I am a soldier of Babasaheb and respect for sister, daughters is paramount. The tweets are very wrong. I am improving the account. Jai Bhima, Jai Bharat,” he said in another tweet.

(With inputs from agencies)