Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday said he wondered why Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have a single word of sympathy for the dalit boys who were beaten up in his home state of Gujarat recently, during his Mann ki Baat address to the nation Sunday.
Taking a jibe at Mr Modi’s remark that his South Africa visit was like a “teerthyatra” (pilgrimage) as he had an opportunity to meet the people who struggled for equality, Capt. Singh said, “You better take another ‘teerthyatra’ to Una town in your home state and meet those dalit boys and others, who are not only struggling, but continue to suffer every day of their life.”
“As they say, charity begins at home and it does not suit anyone better than you in the current circumstances since this is happening in your home state, Gujarat, which you ruled for 12 years and which eventually propelled you to the position that you currently hold,” he added.
Capt. Singh said that Mr Modi wanted every Indian to celebrate Independence Day ceremoniously. “Every Indian is already doing that for the last 69 years and nobody needs to be reminded about that,” he said, while asking, “but what about those who are feeling frightened and threatened, like those dalit boys of Gujarat, and with them many millions more.”
