Maharashtra opposition party slams Modi, Amit Shah over 40,000 women missing from Gujarat

The mouthpiece of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has targeted Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah over reports that 40,000 women have gone missing from the western state of Gujarat, which is also the home turf of both the top leaders.

'Saamana', the mouthpiece, has questioned the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the figures revealed in National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

"It is very serious that women are trapped in human trafficking but still Modi Bhakts chant the glory of the successful Gujarat Model," the editorial of the mouthpiece which was launched by Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the original Sena which has now got split between two groups, said.

The Sena (UBT) mouthpiece also took on the maker of the film 'Kashmir Files', Vivek Agnihotri, asking him to make a film titled 'Gujarat Files' about the state's missing women.

The BJP is in power in both Gujarat and Maharashtra, where the Sena (UBT) is based. Uddhav Thackeray, the leader of the outfit, lost his chief ministerial post in Maharashtra last year following a revolt in the Sena under the leadership of current chief minister Eknath Shinde who joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in the state.

Shinde leads the other group of the Sena called Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena.

The 'Saamana' editorial also raised concerns over women going missing in Maharashtra.

"Similarly, figures of women missing Maharashtra are also alarming," the editorial said.

As per the data, 70 women go missing in the western state daily while 5,000 went missing in the last three months.

"What is the Shinde-Fadnavis government doing about it?" the editorial said, accusing the governments in both Maharashtra and Gujarat of focusing on issues such as 'Bajrang Bali, Hanuman Chalisa and religious conversion' and not redressing issues related to poor and underprivileged women in the bordering areas of the two states.

Attacking Modi, the mouthpiece alleged that the prime minister's popular 'Mann Ki Baat' (Inner Thoughts) misguided people about how former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Gandhis were responsible for the missing women and human trafficking in the state of Gujarat.

"These women and their families will get justice only if law and order prevail in Gujarat, or else people will be misguided in PM Modi's 'Mann ki Baat' that how Nehru and Gandhi are responsible for these missing women," it said.

The mouthpiece also slammed the federal government over the ongoing protest by some of India's renowned wrestlers in Delhi against the chief of the country's wrestling federation over alleged sexual harassment of seven female wrestlers, including a minor.

It accused the government of showing little empathy and said neither the prime minister nor the home minister spoke about them.

Gujarat Police fact checks media reports

The Gujarat Police ran a fact checker on media reports claiming that more than 40,000 women have gone missing in Gujarat between 2016 and 2020, ABP News reported. They said that out of 41,621 women that had gone missing, nearly 95 per cent of nearly 40,000 were found and reunited with their families.

The police added that the data is part of the NCRB, New Delhi, which was cited by many media outlets to claim that more than 40,000 women had been missing in the state of Gujarat.

"Out of 41,621 women gone missing during the period 2016-20 as per the data published in Crime in India-2020 published by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi, 39,497 (94.90%) of the missing women have been traced by Gujarat Police and they are united with their families. The said information is also part of Crime in India, 2020," the Gujarat Police tweeted.