UP Dalit MLAs unite against Land Act amendment

The Cabinet has already approved the proposed amendment in the Act in its meeting on Tuesday but it has yet to assume the shape of the Bill, which requires approval in the House. Nearly two dozen Dalit legislators belonging to the SP met state Revenue Minister Ambika Chaudhary in front of the Assembly today. ‘‘We want the proposed amendment scrapped immediately as it will sound a death knell for members belonging to lower castes,’’ said Vimla Rakesh, an SP legislator. The BSP has also decided to oppose tabling of the amended Act, while two SC legislators in the Congress are also likely to join their counterparts.

‘‘The Samajwadi Party is playing in the hands of the moneyed people and making suitable amendments in existing Acts to ensure maximum benefit to these people. The Act had so far restricted selling of land owned by a Dalit to a non-Dalit, while after the amendment, and if it takes the shape of a Bill, any individual will be free to buy land from Dalits,’’ said BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.

SP legislators have written to Mulayam, urging him to do away with the amendment in the larger interest of members belonging to the Dalit community. ‘‘Once the Bill with the amendment is approved in the state Assembly, there will be a campaign of sorts among upper caste people to lay hands on properties owned by Dalits. We request you to defer the Cabinet decision as it will ruin Dalits,’’ read the letter, which bears the signatures of nearly three dozen SP legislators.