New Delhi, July 20: Congress today targeted RSS and BJP in Lok Sabha over attacks on some dalit men in Gujarat for skinning a dead cow, saying the Hindutva organisation was working for “dalit-mukt Bharat” which was “sponsored” by BJP to polarise communities ahead of next year’s assembly polls there.
The opposition party demanded constitution of a joint parliamentary committee to go into the incident but Home Minister Rajnath Singh strongly refuted its charges and cited figures to claim that cases of atrocities against dalits have 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.
K Suresh (Cong) raised the issue in Zero Hour during which Congress members remained in the Well during protesting against the incident.
Referring to large-scale protests by dalits following the incident and “emergency-like” situation in parts of the BJP-ruled state, he 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. The government totally failed. It was a BJP-sponsored attack. What is going on? Is this Gujarat model,” he said.
Suresh claimed it was the BJP’s agenda to polarise communities before the state assembly elections and alleged that the saffron party was doing it in all states ruled by it.In his reply, Singh termed the incident “very unfortunate” and said he condemned it in strongest words,after he sought to turn the tables on Congress asserting that the cases of atrocities rose during its rule in Gujarat earlier.
He said dalits had faced lot of atrocities in the state during 1991-99. Incidentally, BJP had formed government under Keshubhai Patel there in 1995 and ruled for most of the period till 2001 when Modi took over.
Singh said crimes against dalits were a “social evil” and all parties should join hands to eradicate it. The Anandiben Patel government acted swiftly and arrested accused and provided treatment and compensation to the victims, he said, adding that nine persons have been arrested. Expressing dissatisfaction over the Home Minister’s reply, Congress and TMC members staged a walkout.
Chief Minister Anandiben Patel visited the village of four Dalit youth beaten up in Una town on July 11 for skinning a dead cow. No untoward incidents nor attempts at suicide by Dalits were reported from the state during the ‘Gujarat bandh’, the call for which was given by various Dalit organisations.
Many state transport buses were, however, cancelled or their routes diverted and many schools remained shut, especially in the Saurashtra region. Shops and office establishments remained open for a while in the morning hours while demonstrations continued across the region.
In protest against last week’s thrashing of the four Dalit youths in Una town of Saurashtra, 12 youngsters across the region had attempted suicide and one of them died on Tuesday. A head constable in Amreli too succumbed on Tuesday evening to head injuries sustained during stone-pelting by a mob.
The Chief Minister landed at the Diu airport on Wednesday morning and drove to the Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluka of Saurashtra region to meet the families of the four Dalit youths. They broke down on seeing Anandiben at their doorsteps.
After meeting them and holding discussions, Anandiben claimed all 25 Dalit families in the village were satisfied with the government’s action in the assault case.
Besides aid, she said, the Gujarat government will provide financial help to these families for the construction of houses and toilets. A special camp will be held to ensure they get benefits of all government schemes. Dalit children studying in Class 5 and above will be enrolled in government model schools for free.
Anandiben said she had ordered the district administration to complete these tasks in a month’s time and that she will revisit the place after two months to monitor the progress.
She said police protection has been ordered for families of the four youths. They had complained of threat calls. “Such calls are being recorded and whosoever is responsible will be arrested,” Anandiben said.
Asked why the benefits of government schemes had not reached the Dalit families, the Chief Minister said it was the responsibility of the local legislators, village heads and other panchayat functionaries.
About the proposed visits of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and other political leaders in Gujarat, Anandiben said they should not give a political colour to the whole issue.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by Social Justice Minister Ramanlal Vora, Chief Secretary G.R. Aloria and Minister Jashabhai Barad, among others. She also went to the Civil Hospital in Rajkot to ask after people injured in violence subsequent to the beating incident.
The Gujarat government has ordered a CID-Crime Branch inquiry, formation of a special designated court in consultation with the high court and filing of a chargesheet in 60 days in the case of assault on the four Dalits. So far, 16 persons have been arrested.
