Protecting Women’s Dignity Is Govt’s 'Fundamental Construct': IT Minister On Bulli Bai & Sulli Deals' Cases

The Union Minister said that action has been taken swiftly on all points that came to the fore.

Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks in the Lok Sabha during ongoing Budget Session, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (SANSAD TV/PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday downplayed concerns with regard to the ‘Bulli Bai’ and ‘Sulli Deals’ cases stating protecting the dignity of women is a “fundamental construct” for the government.

“Protecting women dignity is a fundamental construct for us. We can't compromise on this issue irrespective of religion or region,” Vaishnaw said in response to a question on ‘Bulli Bai’ and ‘Sulli Deals’ apps cases by Rajya Sabha Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sushil Modi, ANI reported.

The Union Minister said that action has been taken swiftly on all points that came to the fore.

“Whenever the government takes any step to make social media accountable, the Opposition alleges attack on freedom of speech, which is not true,” said Vaishnaw.

“We have to strike a balance,” he added in the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier in January this year, a Delhi court had rejected the bail application of 21-year-old Neeraj Bishnoi, the main accused in the case of online harassment of Muslim women through a website called ‘Bulli Bai’.

Bishnoi, a B-Tech second-year student of an institute in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, was arrested earlier on January 6 for allegedly creating a web-based application that hosted doctored photographs along with objectionable comments targeting the Muslim women.

The web app was hosted on US-based code sharing service GitHub earlier on December 31 last year, carrying at one point doctored photos of at least 100 Muslim women along with offensive remarks and comments.

Earlier on January 2, separate FIRs were registered in Delhi and Mumbai based on the complaints by the women who were among those targeted.

The uploading of pictures on the 'Bulli Bai' app was similar to the 'Sulli Deals' case in July last year.

The Opposition leaders had earlier demanded a clampdown on such apps.