New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday accused the Modi government of being “anti-Dalit” and “anti-tribal”, as it announced that it will hold a ‘Dalit-Adivasi Self-Respect Meeting’ on September 29 over the “purification” ritual conducted in Uttarakhand last month after party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s rally.
The meeting will be organised by the Congress SC/ST MPs’ Forum, in collaboration with the AICC departments concerned with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, at Mavalankar Hall, Constitution Club of India.
“The meeting will discuss the purification ritual following Kharge ji’s public meeting in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, in August,” Congress MP Mallu Ravi said.
Various incidents have taken place across India involving Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in violation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, he said.
The meeting will prepare a roadmap to prevent such incidents in the future, he said.
The meeting will bring together all Congress MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, former MPs, ministers from Congress-ruled states, MLAs, and AICC representatives, he added.
Ravi said the meeting is being held primarily to discuss the purification ritual conducted after Kharge’s public meeting in Haldwani, Uttarakhand.
“This was not merely an insult to Kharge ji, but an insult to the entire SC/ST community,” he alleged.
The Uttarakhand government initially did not register an FIR. After MPs staged a protest at the Parliament Street police station, an FIR was eventually registered in Haldwani. This is what is happening in a BJP-ruled state,” Ravi said.
He alleged that the BJP is supporting this incident, as the ruling party’s state president openly supported the Ram Sena members who conducted the “purification” ritual.
The BJP intentionally wants to create a division among the people on the basis of caste, he claimed.
“The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), Home Minister (Amit Shah) and Uttarakhand Chief Minister (Pushkar Singh Dhami) have not yet condemned the incident,” Ravi said addressing a press conference, along with party leaders Manoj Kumar, Tanuj Punia, Karamveer Baudh, Bhajan Lal Jatav, Vikrant Bhuria.
Kumar alleged that the Modi government is “anti-Dalit” and “anti-tribal”.
“Atrocities against Dalits and tribals in the Modi government continue to rise. They are beaten, humiliated. Therefore, my appeal to all Dalit-tribal MPs, MLAs, MLCs of the country is to join the Dalit-Tribal Respect Meeting on the 29th and strengthen the fight against injustice,” he said.
The meeting will also take up various incidents of discrimination and violence against SCs and STs across the country that are in violation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The forum emphasised that the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to self-respect, dignity, equality, freedom and fraternity, including citizens belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Expressing concern over continuing violations of laws enacted to protect SC/ST communities, the forum said public representatives belonging to these communities must unite to fight discrimination and social prejudice both inside Parliament and state legislatures, and through public forums.
The initiative is being organised in collaboration with K Raju, National Coordinator (SC, ST, OBC and Minority Departments) and AICC in-charge of Jharkhand; Rajendra Pal Gautam, chairman, AICC SC Department and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh; and Dr Vikrant Bhuria, national chairman, Adivasi Congress and MLA from Jhabua.
A political row erupted after some individuals allegedly performed a “purification yajna” at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on August 11, following a public meeting there by Kharge on August 8.
At a press conference in New Delhi on August 29, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had criticised the incident and demanded the registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those responsible for the “purification”. PTI ASK DIV
DIV
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.