JOIN USWith the flogging of Dalits in Una snowballing into a major controversy, voices are emerging within the NDA and BJP against attacks on the Schedule Castes by cow vigilante groups.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, a Dalit leader from Maharashtra, came out in the open against the saffron fringe elements, saying “protecting humans is no less important than sheltering cows”. “Killing people in the name of protecting cows is not good,” said Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice.
BJP MP from Delhi Udit Raj was more upfront in his attack at the Hindutva forces. Raj, a former IRS officer, said that the Hindu religion is in ‘danger’ from its “so-called protectors” and not because of the conversion of Dalits to other religions.
Raj, who is also the national chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, did not spare the NDA government for the atrocities against the Dalits. “Whosoever may be in power, the attacks on the Dalits have been going on. The only difference is in the numbers," he said.
Athawale, who heads the Republican Party of India (Athawale), an NDA ally, has been under pressure from his community to snap ties with the NDA following Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s suicide.
After a lull, the atrocities against Dalits have resurfaced ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Coupled with former BJP state leader Daya Shankar Singh abusing BSP chief Mayawati, it has made the NDA’s task of reaching out to the SC community harder. To offset the damage, the BJP has expelled Singh from the party.
Uttar Pradesh, as per the 2011 census, has 20.5% (40 million) of the SC population, the highest among the states.
BJP chief Amit Shah’s mass Dalit outreach at Agra was also reportedly cancelled since the community was uncomfortable with the party post the Mayawati humiliation, though the official reason cited was that the venue was flooded with rain water.
The SC sub-castes, besides the Jatavs (Mayawati’s community), are high on the BJP outreach programme to target smaller backward communities for the UP election, scheduled for early next year.
Protect citizens, US tells India
Expressing concern over reports of “rising intolerance and violence” in India, the US has asked the Indian government to do “everything in its power” to protect citizens and to bring to justice the perpetrator, PTI reports from Washington.