Two lawyers have moved the top court challenging the latest amendment to the SC/ST Act, but Dalit groups say it could be part of a ‘double game’ by the govt.
New Delhi: Angry Dalit groups have renewed their calls for a Bharat Bandh in protest against what they call a fresh attempt to dilute the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
On Tuesday, two lawyers moved the Supreme Court to challenge the restoration of the provision for immediate arrest under the act. A day later, Ashok Bharati, chairman of the All India Ambedkar Mahasabha (AIAM), an umbrella organisation of Dalit groups, said this was only to be expected.
“We had anticipated this even when the government passed the amendment restoring the Atrocities Act to its original form…That is why we only postponed the Bharat Bandh on 9 August, and didn’t cancel it,” Bharati told ThePrint.
The petition has been filed by lawyers Prathvi Raj Chauhan and Priya Sharma, who have argued that the amendment “arbitrarily” brought by the government is similar to the one brought by the Rajiv Gandhi government to overturn the court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case. They have further argued that the government has done so under pressure from allies, in order to secure political mileage in the run up to the 2019 polls.
Also read: PM Modi’s Dalit ministers are parasites, says BJP’s Dalit MP Udit Raj
However, Bharati alleged that the lawyers were proxies of the government.
“We believe that the two petitioners are the government’s proxies…The government wants to appear pro-Dalit, but could be playing these double games. We are investigating who the petitioners are, what their antecedents are, what their locus standi is.”
Meeting on 25 August
The AIAM has called a meeting of more than 30-40 organisations in the capital on 25 August. “We will not be cowed down by this petition…We are mobilising in a big way,” Bharati said.
While the AIAM, which was behind the first Bharat Bandh across the country on 2 April this year, had announced a similar bandh on 9 August, it had temporarily called it off.
“We do not stage bandhs for the sake of it… At that time, the government had agreed to one of our major demands seeking the recall of the SC judgment, so we thought we will give them more time,” Bharati said.
Six months of unrest
Earlier this month, the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018, was passed in the Lok Sabha, thereby overturning the Supreme Court’s 20 March order, in which it controversially observed that the act was being used to “blackmail innocent citizens”.
Fearing an increase in violence against Dalits, groups from across the country staged protests — with some incidents of violence — on 2 April, which brought the administration to a near standstill in several states.
Also read: As Dalit protests spread rapidly, Centre seeks review of top court order on SC/ST Act