Atrocities against Dalits should not be politicised: Ramdas Athawale

Ramdas Athawale

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale on Friday said the cases of atrocities against Dalit should not be politicised as such violence had more to do with the casteism entrenched in our society. Addressing the national executive meeting of the Republican Party of India (A) in New Delhi on Friday, Athawale said: “The cases of incidents of Dalit atrocities should not be politicised as it is to do with the casteism in our society. Atrocity rokane ke liye hum sarkar ko aur bhi saksham banayege (We will make the government more competent to stop Dalit atrocity).”

Referring to the recent incidents in Bhima Koregaon and Sarangpur, the MoS said atrocity against Dalits have happened, be it under the BJP government or the SP government, and that opposition parties were wrong to blame it on the BJP government. “Even Mayawati, who holds the BJP responsible (for the incidents) became Chief Minister thrice with the support of BJP MLAs. In the last three years, the Modi government has worked a lot towards the cause of social justice propagated by the architect of Indian Constitution Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he told The Indian Express. On Thursday, Mayawati had launched a scathing attack on the BJP and Congress for not doing much for Dalits.

In a bid to soothe ruffled feathers following MoS for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anantkumar Hegde’s comments on changing the Constitution, Athawale reiterated that the Constitution would not be touched. At an event in Karnataka last year, Hegde had said: “Some people say the Constitution says secular and you must accept it. We will respect the Constitution, but the Constitution has changed several times and it will change in the future too. We are here to change the Constitution and we’ll change it.” The BJP had then distanced itself from the comments.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who also addressed Friday’s event, rubbished allegations about the BJP being against the teachings of Ambedkar, Dalits or reservation, and attempting to change the Constitution as false. He said the BJP had worked towards constructing/maintaining Ambedkar memorials in London, Mumbai and Delhi, something that the previous government never bothered to do. “Those who claim that the BJP is against the ideology of Babasaheb Ambedkar are wrong. Those claiming that the BJP wants to change the Constitution are misleading everyone,” said Singh.