MP emerges as epicentre on day of violent clashes

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh emerged as the epicentre of violence on Monday as six people were killed in the state as Dalits protested over an alleged dilution of a law that safeguards India’s marginalised communities.

According to the police, three people were killed in Gwalior, two in Bhind and one in Morena, with the violence most intense in the Gwalior-chambal region.

The Congress MP for Guna, Jyotiraditya Scindia, tweeted that the region had always been a symbol of peace. “I make a humble appeal to people to maintain peace. The government should take immediate and concrete steps to restore peace,” he said.

The BSP legislator for Dimni in Morena, Balbir Dandotiya, accused the ruling BJP of stoking caste politics ahead of assembly elections slated for NovemberDecember. “This was why the violence mainly happened in Gwalior-chambal, known for its caste politics,” he said.

Curfew was i mposed i n Morena district and areas under four police stations in Gwalior.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed for peace and said his government was committed to protect the interests of Schedule Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities and stressed that the Union government has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court.

The protests were against a top court order that Dalit organisations allege had whittled down safeguards guaranteed by the SC/ST atrocities act to the marginalised communities.

According to the state’s minister for general administration Lal Singh Arya, who is also the government’s Dalit face, anti-social elements and not Dalits were behind Monday’s violence.

The violence comes less than a year after Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur had emerged as the epicentre of clashes in which five farmer-protesters were killed in alleged police firing.

Assembly elections are due in the state this year, and experts say two incidents may become issues in the polls. Eighty-two of 230 seats in the state are reserved for the SC and ST communities.

Chouhan has been trying to reach out to marginalised communities with doles such as patta or land lease right, subsidised food grains and financial assistance for childbirths.