Even as incidents of rising intolerance are coming to light, there is no end to political blame game being played over such atrocities. Just a few days after two Dalit children were burnt alive in Faridabad's Sunped village, a 15-year-old Dalit boy, who was charged with theft of a pigeon, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Haryana's Gohana town on Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government which is already in the line of fire in the wake of such incidents, also has another battle to fight to save its image after controversial statements from its leaders.
Union Minister VK Singh's remark that "Centre cannot be held responsible if a dog is stoned", when asked about the death of Dalit children has forced the party to be on the backfoot.
Though maintaining that Singh was misquoted, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked party leaders to refrain from making statements that can be misinterpreted. "General VK Singh and Kiren Rijiju have given their clarification on the statements. We should be careful while making statements. We should be careful that our statements are made in a way that it cannot be misconstrued. One cannot get away by saying statement was misinterpreted, need to be careful while putting views," he said.
While Singh is facing flak for his statement on the Dalit children, MoS Home Kiren Rijiju created a stir by saying that north Indians take pride in breaking rules.
Claiming that the comment by Singh reflects the ideology of the BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati demanded immediate action against him, "The comment is an insult for the Dalits. We demand PM to sack VK Singh and send him behind bars. This is a serious comment. The PM should have immediately acted against VK Singh after he gave such a comment.
She also blamed both the BJP and the Congress for atrocities on Dalits. "Congress and the BJP are insensitive towards Dalits. Both the parties are responsible for atrocities on Dalits. There are many incidents of violent incident against the community members."
The National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes has also taken cognizance of Singh's comment. "How could he compare Dalits to a dog. This is really shameful. It exposes his mentality .The commission has taken cognizance of it and we have asked SSP Ghaziabad and DGP UP if they have taken notice of it as it's a fit case for atrocities against SC /ST. The PM should look into it and decide if he should be removed or not," Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes PL Punia said.
Aam Aadmi Party has filed a complaint against Singh for his remarks. "Singh has violated the SC, ST Act by comparing Dalits to dogs. The ACP has assured us that they will conduct an investigation and also speak to Singh on the matter and will be questioned," AAP leader Ashutosh said demanding that Singh be arrested under the SC/ST Act.
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