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BOO! Jaitley terms December 16 gang rape as 'one small incident'

Political leaders tend to make comments that embarrass them. On Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressing a tourism meet said, “One small incident of rape in Delhi was enough to cost of million dollars in terms of lower number of tourists. We have national responsibility and God has given us everything which tourists want to see, we just have to catalyse that process and make sure of that we take right step.”

That one ‘small incident’ was the horrific and disturbing December 16 gang rape in a moving bus that shocked the country and the world and led to months of unrest on the streets of the city.

Soon after his comments went public, other political parties and the public at large criticised him for his insensitivity.

Later, Jaitley said it was not his intention to be insensitive. He clarified that he was not talking about any specific incident and there was “no question” of trivialising any incident. “I regret that some word that I used was construed as insensitive, that was not my intention. I am very sensitive to these issues myself,” he said.

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