By Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Amid severe criticism of the BJP-led government for allegedly diluting provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the opposition leaders led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday met President Ram Nath Kovind and asked him to intervene into the matter immediately. They also submitted a memorandum to the President bringing incidents of atrocities on Dalits to his notice.
Talking to reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhawan after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said the opposition parties have share their concerns regarding the dilution of provisions of arrest in the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act with the president.
“Atrocities are increasing and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act has been weakened.”
He said the President was quite positive and supportive and assured that action would be taken.
The president also assured that he will assess the (act) and take a review petition, Rahul Gandhi added who earlier, tweeted saying, “The Supreme Court ruling diluting provisions of arrest in the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act comes in the backdrop of growing atrocities against Dalits & Adivasis across India. Leaders from opposition parties will meet President Kovind this evening to share their concerns.”
The Congress chief also slammed the development as an “anti-Dalit policy of the BJP-government”.
CPI (M) leader T K Rangarajan said the president assured us that some justice would be done.
“We told him that conviction rate is very low; atrocities against Dalits, Adivasis, and women are increasing, so it has to be taken note of. I think the President will do some justice.”
Echoing his views, DMK leader T.K.S. Elangovan said the Act which is deterrent against atrocities has been diluted; this will give a new impetus to the offenders.
“What is happening in every day, media is coming out with stories on attacks on Dalits and weaker sections. So, this is not a good sign. They should see that the law is not diluted. We want the President to intervene.”
Vandana Chavan, Nationalist Congress Party leader from Maharashtra, said we demanded that the government must file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict that has virtually made the Scand ST Act toothless.
It is the duty of every Government to make sure that it safeguards the weaker and the vulnerable sections of the society and till now, every Government whichever party it has been, had made sure that the vulnerable sections are safeguarded, she said.
“We see that with SC ruling, the provisions under the Prevention of Atrocities Act have got diluted and there is an increase in the number of cases against Dalits. Therefore there has to be a review petition to review the act and it has to be filed by the government,” she said.
The memorandum listed the incidents of atrocities on Dalits since the BJP came to power in May 2014.
On March 20, the Supreme Court diluted stringent provisions mandating immediate arrest under the SC/ST Act while taking the note of the alleged misuse of the law against government servants. The apex court ruled that a public servant can only be arrested after approval of the appointing authority.
The court order has put the Modi government on defensive as its own allies are demanding a review of the court verdict.
Earlier on Wednesday, a delegation of NDA’s SC and ST MPs, led by LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Union Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the Supreme Court judgment diluting provisions of the SC-ST atrocities act.
Ramdas Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice, and Republican Party of India (A) leader told Muslim Mirror that we urged the PM to file a review petition against the court ruling. He warned that the court ruling has far-reaching political consequences. We put four demands before the Prime Minister including distributing five-acre agri-land to each Dalit family, Athawale said.
The court ruling has put the Modi government into a quandary as the issue has been snowballing into major political controversy. The government cannot take the risk of ignoring Dalits by not filing the review petition. On the other side, if it files the petition, it can invite the ire of “upper castes” which is the BJP’s core constituency.
I have a question. Don’t the majority of the Hindus consider Dalits as Hindus or not? If they can’t be fair, just to their own co-religionists, can they ever be kind, fair, or reciprocal to other religious groups? I am ashamed of being a former Indian where my former co-countrymen are behaving such.