Kejriwal meets Gujarat Dalit victims

Two people have died in the past two days.

The four members of the Dalit community were last week tied to a vehicle in Gujarat state, stripped and flogged with sticks by self-styled hardline Hindu cow protectors who then published a video of the attack as a “warning” to others. A video of the beating has gone viral.

The fact finding team members have demanded that the state should ban such cow protection groups.

Last year, a Muslim man was lynched by a violent mob that attacked his house over allegations that his family had been storing and consuming beef at home.

In his reply, Singh termed the incident “very unfortunate” and said he condemned it in strongest words, after he sought to turn the tables on Congress asserting that the cases of atrocities rose during its rule in Gujarat earlier. “We didn’t know where they were going to take them so my husband also tried to sit in the vehicle”, said Kuvarben. “Urge all parties to come together to fight this”, he added.

He raised the issue after virtually the entire opposition was on its feet protesting against the incident with Congress members storming the Well.

With growing anger in the Dalit community and police unable to do anything about it, one inspector and one assistant sub-inspector have been suspended in Una.

New Delhi, Atrocities against Dalits have been increasing since Independence, and the caste system in India has a “Taliban-like attitude”, Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav said on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha. According to the 2001 Census, there are approximately 3.6 million members of Scheduled Castes in Gujarat, which represents 7.1% of the state’s total population.

Around 200 cow vigilante groups have sprung up in Gujarat. This is not the first time this has happened.

He said Dalits had faced lot of atrocities in the state during 1991-99. Singh also went on to count the schemes by the NDA Government to improve the life of Dalits and the poor.

The Una incident sparked protests across Gujarat, as hundreds took out rallies, blocked traffic, pelted stones at policemen. He said nine people had been arrested.

The issue has gathered a political steam with the proposed visit of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to Una tomorrow and on Friday, respectively. “The inaction by the police could not have been without some signal from the top”, the AAP leader said. RSS is trying for Dalit-mukt Bharat.