New Delhi: Tearing into UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath over the Kushinagar incident where dalits were asked to shower before meeting him, the Congress demanded a case be registered against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the officials under the SC/ST Atrocities Act. He also demanded an unconditional apology from the Uttar Pradesh CM.
The matter came to light when people belonging to Mushahar community alleged that they were given soaps and shampoo by the local administration ahead of Yogi’s visit. They were asked to take bath and clean themselves up properly before attending a function in Kushinagar.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that this country has fought hard against untouchability and such actions being meted out by the Uttar Pradesh CM are condemnable.
He asserted that Mr Adityanath directly practised untouchability in the way in which he gave instructions to the dalits that they must ‘smell good’ before their meeting. “They have insulted the entire community in that village but more importantly they have most importantly insulted the very concept of dalit in this country,” he said.
The district administration in Kushinagar asked the residents to have a bath before attending a meeting with the CM Yogi. To ensure the instructions were followed, soaps, shampoo and perfumes were distributed among the villagers. The members of the Mushahar community were called to attend a vaccination programme for the eradication of encephalitis, a campaign started by the CM in Kushinagar’s Kasiya division.
Five children from the community were to be vaccinated under the campaign from the area.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had visited Saharanpur on Saturday after clashes broke out between two communities. Earlier, Mr Gandhi had visited the Hyderabad Central University where Rohith Vemula, a dalit scholar, committed suicide citing discrimination. Issues of dalit beatings in Una (Gujarat), attacks against the Ambedkar Periyar study circle in Chennai have been raised by the Congress.
Insiders say that the Congress is planning to launch a nationwide agitation against the government for ‘unabated atrocities on Dalits’. The agitation will culminate closer to the Monsoon session of parliament so that the issue can also be raised in both the houses of parliament.
