Row Over Telangana IAS Officer Smita’s Tweet on Justice for Bilkis Bano

Hyderabad: Following in the footsteps of the TRS leaders KTR and MLC Kavitha, senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal, who also happens to be the secretary of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, reacted to the release of 11 convicts in the gangrape of Bilkis Bano by the Gujarat government but her comment has kicked up a row in the state. 

She made the comment while being in the service as an IAS officer and this issue has become a topic for discussion among the bureaucratic and political circles. 

“As a woman and a civil servant, I sit in disbelief, reading the news on the #BilkisBanoCase. We cannot snuff out her Right to breathe free without fear, again and call ourselves a free nation. #JusticeForBilkisBano(sic),” Sabharwal tweeted on Bilkis Bano case. 

As a woman and a civil servant I sit in disbelief, on reading the news on the #BilkisBanoCase.
We cannot snuff out her Right to breathe free without fear, again and call ourselves a free nation. #JusticeForBilkisBano pic.twitter.com/NYL6YS59Gh

— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) August 18, 2022

Her tweet is getting mixed reactions on social media. While some praised her courage for speaking out while being in service, others questioned her ‘selective’ comment and also accused her of nursing political ambitions or aspiring a plum post in future. 

Sanjiv Gupta, IAS officer of 1985 batch and former secretary to government of India in the Home Ministry, gave kudos to her for speaking out. 

“Kudos for speaking ur mind openly & clearly on this shocker. A bureaucrat can express his/her opinion as Social Media is personal space. Even while in service, I spoke my mind out freely subject to norms. Now, I’ve raised many legal issues in #BilkisBanoCase,” he tweeted.

Kudos @SmitaSabharwal 👏👏 for speaking ur mind openly & clearly on this shocker. A bureaucrat can express his/her opinion as Social Media is personal space. Even while in service, I spoke my mind out freely subject to norms. Now, I've raised many legal issues in #BilkisBanoCase

— Sanjeev Gupta (@sanjg2k1) August 18, 2022

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While the netizens were quick to point out the gangrape of a minor in Jubilee Hills of Hyderabad in which sons of leaders of TRS and AIMIM were allegedly involved. They asked her to comment on the release of the accused in the Jubilee Hills gangrape case too. 

“Selective outrage is bad. She has to speak about AIMIM MLA’s son who got bail for raping a girl in Hyderabad,” wrote a Twitter user

In her recent tweet, the IAS officer has once again asked the judiciary to cancel the remission of sentence of the culprits in Bilkis Bano gangrape case. Her tweet accompanied a cartoon in which praising and garlanding of convicts is criticised. 

They deserved the noose not garlands.
Appeal to the Supreme Court and Constitutional heads to cancel the remission, and restore our faith. #JusticeForBilkisBano pic.twitter.com/ECqXhZacF4

— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) August 21, 2022