Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday joined the dharna being organized by the Dalits in Balad Kalan village in Sangrur district who are fighting for their rights over the panchayat land.
Accompanied by party’s Dalit leader and Jalandhar MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh and Sangrur leaders including former MP Vijay Inder Singla, former MlA Surinder Pal Singh Sibia, among others, Bajwa demanded immediate withdrawal of cases against Dalits.Besides, he pressed for acceptance of their demand for lowering reserve price for auction of 478 bighas of land reserved for them in the village.Terming police lathi-charge on the agitating dalits as “unprovoked”, Bajwa strongly condemned it while pointing that an 80-year-old woman was injured along with several others.
He said that dalits at several places had been agitating against the Government policies and the Congress would take up their issues at the State level.