SC/ST Act: Protest in Kota; Bharatpur bandh on Sept 6

Upper caste people, mostly Brahmins, jostled Kota BJP MLA Sandeep Sharma and burnt tyres outside the residence of Kota Lok Sabha MP Om Birla on Sunday as a mark of protest against the recent amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The protesters, under the banner of Samta Aandolan Samiti, gathered in front of Birla’s office and raised slogans against the SC/ST Act. They wanted to hand him a memorandum against the amendment. Legislator Sharma and Birla’s wife, Amita, came out to take the memorandum when the MLA was roughed up.

MLA Sharma said that he would forward the memorandum to the persons concerned in the government.

Dr Anil Sharma, district president of Samta Aandolan Samiti, said that Birla did not come to receive the memorandum of activists which reflects that the MP is ignoring the interests of the upper castes. Despite repeated attempts, Lok Sabha MP Om Birla could not be contacted.

Meanwhile, in Bharatpur, the upper castes have called for a bandh on September 6 to protest the amendment to the SC/SC Act. Outside most shops in Bharatpur city, a notice with the following words has been pasted: ‘I belong to the general class. I protest SC\ST Act. I will keep my shop shut on September 6.’

Sunil Sangtani, a shop owner, said that the politics of vote is dividing the country on the basis of castes. There will be bandh in Baran too on September 6. HTC

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