Indian Youth Congress National President Uday Bhanu Chib led a protest on Sunday outside the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Jhandewalan, New Delhi, decrying what he described as the discriminatory mindset of the BJP-RSS.
Addressing the protest, Chib asserted that the RSS-BJP ideology draws inspiration from the Manusmriti and is “anti-Dalit.” He accused the RSS-BJP of harboring a “casteist mindset” and symbolically burned a copy of the Manusmriti during the demonstration.
“The RSS-BJP ideology is inspired by the Manusmriti, which is anti-Dalit. There is a battle between two ideologies in the country: that of the Constitution and that of the BJP-RSS. The ‘purification’ of the stage following Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s program in Uttarakhand is an insult not just to one individual, but to crores of Dalits in the country and to the very soul of the Constitution,” Chib stated in a release.
He added, “We will continue to fight against this casteist mindset because this country will be governed by the Constitution, not by the Manusmriti.”
IYC National General Secretary Hari Krishna and other Youth Congress office-bearers were also present during the protest.
The Delhi Police detained Chib during the demonstration and took him to the Paharganj police station.
Separately, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh criticized the BJP and RSS for harboring an “anti-Dalit” mindset. Speaking on Saturday, he linked repeated incidents targeting Dalits in BJP-ruled states to alleged endorsement from the top leadership.
Responding to the controversy regarding the alleged incident involving Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Uttarakhand, Ramesh stated, “It wouldn’t be surprising if the BJP’s double-engine government in Uttarakhand honors or rewards in some way those who have displayed such anti-Dalit hatred towards Congress President Kharge ji. Such audacity only comes when there’s backing from the top. Otherwise, what’s the reason for such incidents to recur. repeatedly in BJP-ruled states? At the core of the BJP-RSS ideology lies hatred towards Dalits, this mindset keeps surfacing time and again.”
Ramesh also criticized the BJP-led government for failing to uphold the dignity and equality guaranteed by the Constitution and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the alleged incident.