Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a presser on Saturday (August 29), highlighted the humiliation faced by Dalits in the country, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge in Uttarakhand earlier this month, under BJP-RSS rule.
He started by saying that a battle is raging in the country between two ideologies—that of the Constitution and that of the BJP-RSS.
He said Dalits have been subjected to atrocities in this country for thousands of years. Even today, violence is perpetrated against them, which is, of course, illegal.
‘Daily attacks’
In many schools across the country, Dalit children are made to clean toilets and sweep floors. Dalits are not allowed to draw water from wells. At tea stalls, Dalits are served in disposable cups while upper castes are served in reusable cups.
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Dalits are beaten, intimidated, and threatened over riding a horse in wedding processions, so much so that many grooms wear a helmet when they ride to their wedding.
“The sterner the voice of a Dalit and the more successful the person, the more severe is the attack,” said the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition.
Dalit leaders humiliated
After this, he cited a few cases of high-profile Dalit leaders facing discrimination. “Our CLP (Congress Legislative Party leader) of Rajasthan (Tikaram Jully) goes to a temple; a BJP leader conducts purification (purification),” narrated Rahul.
Jully is the first Dalit leader to hold the position of Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.
Rahul also cited the example of a similar purification ritual following HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi’s visit to a temple.
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Finally, he brought up the topic of a purification ceremony being conducted at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground after Congress Kharge’s August 8 speech.
“Who perform these ceremonies? They are all BJP and RSS people,” Rahul alleged.
Seeking justice for Kharge
“This is a crime according to the Constitution. We call it ‘purification’, but it is actually legitimising untouchability,” he added.
Kharge’s rally happened on August 8. BJP leaders got the purification done after two days. On August 13, Kharge gave a speech in parliament. BJP’s Uttarakhand state president (Mahendra Bhatt) openly said purification was not a problem. Twenty days have passed since then. No action has been taken,” Rahul narrated highlighting the illegality of the act.
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“Our demand is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi order the filing of an FIR against whoever did this purification in Haldwani. This incident shows the BJP-RSS mindset. They don’t want Dalits to live with dignity and succeed in life. We are demanding justice for the Congress president. It is the duty of the state and central governments to see that Kharge ji gets justice,” he concluded the speech.