New Delhi: The incident of thrashing of some Dalits by a group of cow vigilantes in Gujarat led to an uproar in Parliament with the main Opposition party Congress accusing the BJP and RSS of working towards ‘dalit-mukt Bharat’. It sought constitution of a joint parliamentary committee to probe the incident.
The Congress charge evoked a sharp reaction from the Government which cited figures of atrocities faced by Dalits during Congress rule. Home Minister Rajnath Singh strongly refuted the Opposition’s charges and claimed by reading out figures that cases of atrocities against Dalits had declined in the state since 2001 when Narendra Modi took over as chief minister, and commended the state government for its “swift and effective” action.
In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition led by Congress forced two adjournments in the pre-noon session over attacks on Dalits in Gujarat. Main opposition Congress, BSP and Trinamul Congress competed with each other in trying to raise the issue more vociferously, throwing the Upper House into a pandemonium and forcing two adjournments, first for 10 minutes and then for about 30 minutes till noon.
In Lok Sabha, Mr Singh, whose speech was disrupted quite often by Congress members, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “very sad and hurt” after he came to know of the details of the incident on his return from foreign tour on July 12. The incident had occurred on July 11.
K. Suresh of the Congress raised the issue in the Zero Hour during which Congress members remained in the Well, where they had stationed themselves as soon as the House had convened for the day. They were protesting against the incident and continued raising slogans against the Centre and Gujarat government right till the Zero Hour commenced.
Referring to large-scale protests by the Dalits following the incident and “emergency-like”situation in parts of the BJP-ruled state, Mr Suresh said they have lost faith in the government and attributed the violence to RSS and upper caste lobby, inviting protests from the treasury benches.
Many Dalits have tried to commit suicide as they have no faith in the state government, the Congress member alleged. “Violence is RSS agenda. RSS is trying for Dalit-mukt Bharat,” he said.
