Rahul says Modi govt anti-Dalit, Shah hits back with ‘wink’ jibe

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Modi's antiDalit mindset is reflected in his remark that Dalits get "spiritual joy" in scavenging and sanitation job.

Citing this mindset in a book compiling Modi's speeches, he said the thinking of Modi, the BJP and the RSS is to deny space to the Dalits in all spheres, be it in the field of education or progress and future scheme of things.

Addressing a scheduled caste (SC)/scheduled tribe(ST) protest rally at Jantar Mantar here against dilution of the law for their protection, he said the Congress does not wants an India being transformed by the BJP in which dalits are killed, thrashed, suppressed and trampled upon on open day light with protection instead of punishment to the culprits.

"We want an India with place for everybody, whether dalits, poor, adivasis or minorities...Everybody should progress. We will fight for such an India," Rahul said hoping the people will help the Congress oust the Modi government in 2019 to usher in a government representing dalits, adivasis, weaker sections and farmers that protects interests of all.

He said all dalits and people from the weaker sections know that the Prime Minister has no place for them in his heart and mind and he really wants to crush them.

Rahul said the Modi government deliberately got the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, enacted by his father Rajiv Gandhi's government that grants them protection, made infructuous through the Supreme Court and rewarded the judge who helped it achieve this nefarious deed with a post-retirement job.

The government brought all sorts of Ordinances but not one to nullify the effect of the Supreme Court judgment and it was only under immense pressure of Congress and also from inside the government from ministers like Ram Vilas Paswan that Modi was forced to bring a Bill to amend the Act and remove the dilutions, Rahul said, pointing out that the Congress and all opposition parties got the Bill passed first in the Lok Sabha and on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha.

"We are committed to protect the Act against the atrocities. We have made it clear to Modi that if he stands against the dalits, the whole will stand against him and throw him out of the seat of power," he added.

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday asked the Congress chief to look at facts when "free from winking" and alleged it was the opposition party that had a legacy of insulting Dalits.

In a series of tweets, Shah said the prime minister's legacy includes "strongest amendments to SC/ST Act" and setting up of the OBC Commission, while the Congress legacy was about insulting Dalit leaders, opposing the Mandal Commission report and blocking a move to empower the OBC body.

In a series of tweets scoffing at Gandhi, Shah asked him to spend some time on facts "when you are free from winking and disrupting Parliament" and asserted that the NDA government has ensured the strongest amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

He was referring to Gandhi's apparent wink in Lok Sabha after hugging Modi during a debate on the noconfidence motion against the government.

"Why are you protesting that?", Shah asked Gandhi while taking about the new bill that seeks to reverse a recent Supreme Court order that put additional safeguards against arrest of accused in cases of atrocities against Dalits.