Congress targets BJP in House over dalit attacks

The thrashing of four dalits by a group of “cow vigilantes” in Gujarat recently led to an uproar in Parliament on Wednesday with the main Opposition Congress accusing the BJP and RSS of working towards a “dalit-mukt Bharat (dalit-free Bharat)”. It sought the 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 against dalits during Congress rule. Union home minister Rajnath Singh, refuting the Opposition’s charges, read out figures in support of his claim that cases of atrocities against dalits had declined in Gujarat since 2001, when Narendra Modi had taken over as chief minister, and commended the state government for its “swift and effective” action.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition, led by the Congress, forced two adjournments over attacks on dalits in Gujarat. The Congress, BSP and TMC competed in trying to raise the issue more vociferously, throwing the Upper House into pandemonium and forcing a first adjournment for 10 minutes, and a second — for about 30 minutes — till noon.

In the Lok Sabha Mr Singh, whose speech was disrupted quite often by Congress members, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “very sad and hurt” on learning the details of the incident when he returned from abroad on July 12. The incident had occurred on July 11. K. Suresh of the Congress raised the issue during Zero Hour and Congress members remained in the Well where they had stationed themselves as soon as the House had convened. They were protesting against the incident and continued raising slogans against the Centre and Gujarat government right till Zero Hour commenced.

Referring to large-scale protests by dalits following the incident and an “emergency-like” situation in parts of the BJP-ruled state, Mr Suresh alleged that many dalits have tried to commit suicide as they have no faith in the state government. He attributed the violence to the RSS and upper-caste lobby, inviting protests from the Treasury benches. “Violence is the 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 (the) Gujarat model,” Mr Suresh said. He claimed the BJP wants to polarise communities before the state Assembly elections and that the saffron party is taking this path in all the states in which it is in power.

In his reply, Mr Rajnath Singh termed the incident “very unfortunate” and that he condemned it in the strongest words. He said dalits had faced a lot of atrocities in the state in the period 1991-99. The Union home minister said crimes against dalits were a “social evil” and all parties should join hands to eradicate it.

Incidentally, the BJP had formed government under Keshubhai Patel there in 1995 and ruled for most of the period till 2001, when Mr Modi took over.

Gujarat’s Anandiben Patel government acted swiftly and arrested the accused and also provided treatment and compensation to the victims, Mr Singh said, adding that nine persons have been arrested.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the home minister’s reply, Congress and TMC members staged a walkout.

Later, a statement issued by the Gujarat government said it was committed to providing quick justice to the dalit victims of Una and that those involved in the incident would be given strict punishment.

In the national capital, Union minister for social justice and empowerment Thawarchand Gehlot said the state government would take strict action against the accused and that an inquiry had been ordered.