Lok Sabha Wednesday saw uproar over thrashing of some dalits by some people in Gujarat, with Congress accusing BJP and RSS of working for “dalit-mukt Bharat”, evoking a sharp reaction from government which cited figures of atrocities faced by dalits during Congress rule.
Advertisement
In the din, Gehlot could only be heard as saying that the state government had taken prompt action over the incident and arrested the accused persons.
He further took on Gujarat government stating that the administration did not act at time because it was hinted from “above”.
“The Prime Minister condemned the incident in strongest terms and I also found him in deep pain over the incident”, Rajnath Singh said.
Naqvi also said the compulsory afforestation bill which was listed for discussion was in favor of the Dalits and the Scheduled Tribes. “We have to think about solutions”.
“If I point out the cases of atrocities against Dalits during Congress government, it would not resolve anything”, he said, referring to allegations made by Congress leaders against the National Democratic Alliance government.
Subodh Parmar, one of the members of the fact-finding team, claims that the Una incident is not the only atrocity against Dalits by people linked to cow protection.
The four members of the Dalit community were last week tied to a auto in Gujarat state, stripped and flogged with sticks by self-styled hardline Hindu cow protectors who then published a video of the attack as a “warning” to others.
Patel, whose visit nearly followed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, said the beating up of Dalit youth was unfortunate and shameful.
The state has been witness to large scale protests after seven Dalits were beaten up in Mota Samadhilya village of Gir-Somnath district last week.
“This government came to power in 2014 and since then new avenues for Dalit attacks have come”, he said.
Gujarat is today emerging as the most troubled state in the country, judging from the widespread protests first by the Patel community, and now by the Dalits that are moving across with the speed of wildfire.
“The Gujarat government should crack down on these gau raksha committees if they are resorting to violence in their efforts to protect cows”.
Advertisement
Expressing dissatisfaction over the Home Minister’s reply, Congress and TMC members staged a walkout. Three others were taken to hospital after they were said to have consumed phenyl.
