Caste-marking on MP constables an attack on Constitution: Rahul

This is the mindset of BJP/RSS which saw pitchers hung on Dalits’ necks, brooms tied to their body and their entry denied to temples. We have to defeat this mindset

RAHUL GANDHI, Congress president

BHOPAL: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-ruled Madhya Pradesh government for alleged caste markings on the chests of newly recruited police constables from SC, ST and OBC categories during their medical examination in Dhar on Sunday.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Gandhi said, “BJP sarkar ke jativadi ravaiye ne desh ki chhati par chhura mara hai. MP ke yuvaon ke seene par SC/ST likhkar desh ke samvidhan par hamla kiya hai (BJP government’s casteist attitude has stabbed the country in its chest. Writing SC/ST on MP youths’ chest amounts to attack on the Constitution).”

He added, “Ye BJP/RSS ki soch hai. Yahi soch kabhi daliton ke gale me haandi tangwaati thi, sharir me jhaadu bandhwaati thi, mandir me ghusne nahi deti thi. Hum is soch ko haraayenge (This is the mindset of BJP/RSS which saw pitchers hung on Dalits’ necks, brooms tied to their body and their entry denied to temples. We have to defeat this mindset).”

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ashok Gehlot also attacked the state government in a tweet. “The treatment meted out to dalits in BJP ruled #Madhyapradesh is shocking and condemnable. It speaks for itself; what the mind- set of BJP leaders is and how their policies are discriminating against dalits.” Echoing Gehlot’s sentiment, Congress MP from Guna Jyotiraditya Scindia said “Dalits and brethren of the backward class were insulted once again by the incident”.

However, reacting to the opposition’s criticism, senior BJP leader and former media incharge Dr Hitesh Bajpai said, “Nobody can support what happened in Dhar but what was done was not any casteist action. It was done for the sake of classification. An inquiry is being conducted and the guilty will be punished. But what Gandhi is doing is divisive politics. He knows if the society gets divided in the name of castes, only then the Congress can gain.”

So far, none of the constables involved in the incident have lodged a complaint.

Dhar SP Birendra Kumar said an inquiry being conducted by a deputy SP was expected to conclude by Tuesday.