Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday demanded immediate sacking of Union minister V K Singh for his dog remark on the Dalit killings in Faridabad and said he should be sent to jail for his "petty, mean and low-level mentality".
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately dismiss him. He should be sent to jail for harbouring such petty and low-level mentality towards Dalits," Mayawati told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference.
Her outburst came after Singh's controversial remarks that "government cannot be held responsible if somebody stones a dog". "The comment is against the self-respect and honour of Dalits all over the country. Our party not only condemns it, but also demands from the Prime Minister that he should immediately dismiss him for having such petty, mean and low-level mentality and send him to jail," an angry Mayawati said.
"If Modi does not do the same, it will be taken that he has nothing to do with the pride of Dalits and his recent announcement of building memorial in the name of Ambedkar is merely aimed at taking advantage of their votes," she said.
At the press meet, the BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister accused the BJP government in Haryana of being "insensitive" towards Dalits and termed as shameful the killing of two children who were burnt alive three days ago in Faridabad. "It clearly indicates that BJP is not at all concerned or sensitive towards Dalits. It shows insensitivity of the Haryana government. "She said the incident is more shocking because it happened despite the police deployment in the area.
"Despite police presence, four dalits were burnt alive. What was their fault? It was because they wanted to live with self-respect," she said.
Mayawati said on the one hand Modi spoke about honouring Ambedkar, on the other his (Ambedkar's) followers were being targeted. "Political parties are merely using Ambedkar's name for narrow gains and they should stop this immediately," she said.
She also said resignation of the Haryana Chief Minister should be taken for failing to protect Dalits. "Stern action should have been taken by the Haryana government against the accused and mere suspension of the police personnel will not serve the purpose, they should be sent to jail under stringent sections of the law," she said.
On leaders of different parties rushing to Faridabad after the incident, Mayawati was especially critical of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "Where was he when a similar incident took place in Hissar in Haryana when Congress was in power. Congress 'yuvraj' rushed there to shed crocodile tears...When Congress was at the helm both at the Centre and Haryana and Dalits faced atrocities in Hissar he kept sleeping like Kumbhakarna...though he could have done a lot for them as his party was in power there," she said.
"When it is the Congress government, it is BJP which indulges in drama and vice versa...I want to tell the central government that Congress did this drama and today they are out of power...if BJP and its alliance partners follow Congress they too will face the same fate...it can face the same fate in Bihar," Mayawati said.
"At the time of election, leaders of all parties indulge in drama of different kind to woo Dalits. They are expert in putting up hoardings, making films, going to their 'bastis' (hutments) and having 'khichdi' with them...but after elections they do not even look towards them," she said.
The BSP Chief said she was the first to instruct her party people to go to Faridabad and extend help to the affected family and it was only after that other party leaders started arriving there.
The BSP leader also took the opportunity to target RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat who, she said, was issuing tall statements on Lord Buddha and B R Ambedkar. "The RSS Chief is issuing tall statements about Buddha and Bhimrao Ambedkar but they also need to follow the path shown by them," she said, adding Ambedkar did not frame the Constitution for any particular section of the society or religion.
"If the Sangh and BJP men really believe in Ambedkar, they will also have to follow the path shown by him and respect all religions and protect them," she said, adding this was, however, not the case or else the Dadri incident would not have happened.
"Those responsible for Dadri are openly issuing statements but no action is being taken against them...The government of UP has also made claims in the media but no action has been taken," she said, alleging both BJP and SP were together in creating a chasm between Hindus and Muslims to draw political mileage in elections.
She also attacked the Prime Minister, saying that merely suggesting restraint on BJP leaders and ministers giving controversial statements was not enough.
"BJP leaders and central ministers are daily issuing controversial statements on religion, caste and regional issues which harm the atmosphere in the country. Merely asking them to exercise restraint will not help, if the Prime Minister is really serious, he should crack the whip on them but if he does so RSS will crack the whip as it (RSS) sets the agenda of the government," she said.
Even President Pranab Mukherjee had to speak on the issue of rising religious intolerance, she said.
