The Opposition continued to flay the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Haryana Government over the killing of two toddlers of a Dalit family in Faridabad and the increasing crime against Dalits in the State.
As many 830 cases of crime against Dalits were reported from Haryana in 2014, as per the data of National Crime Records Bureau. Also, a total of 101 cases under Protection of Civil Rights Act were reported during 2014, maximum of 31 cases under this were reported in Haryana last year.
The Dalits (20 per cent) are the second biggest group in population after Jats (about 25 per cent) in Haryana, yet their clout is nowhere when compared to the Jats or any other upper caste in the State. Also, the violence against Dalits is a constant phenomenon in several districts in Jat land of Haryana.
While the Faridabad incident is seen as inter-caste violence case, the Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar on Thursday said that the incident should not be given a “political or casteist colour”.
Reacting over the statement of Manohar lal Khattar, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda questioned him saying, “How can he make this statement even before the probe, how can he dismiss caste angle into the incidentIJ”
Hooda also condemned the State Government for deteriorating law and order situation in the State.
Taking a jibe at the BJP-led Haryana Government’s slogan “Kathni, Karni, Ek Saar”, Haryana Congress legislative party leader Kiran Choudhry said, “Nothing could be closer to utter falsehood than this.”
Advising the BJP Government to talk less and work more, she said that the motor-mouths of the BJP should be reined in to save the secular fabric of the State which has a long history of amity and communal harmony.
Charging that atrocities against “Dalits and weaker sections” are rising, former Union Minister and Congress leader Kumari Selja had said, “The atrocities against the dalits are increasing. Her party will raise this issue strongly, be it in Parliament and on the streets.”
The blistering attack by the Opposition has now put the BJP on the defensive as three more phases of polling are left in Bihar, where caste-based polarisation has emerged as a cause of concern for the NDA.
Meanwhile, the remarks of Union Minister VK Singh also sparked a controversy on Thursday when he said, “The Government cannot be held responsible if someone throws stones at dog” while trying to clear the government from the Faridabad incident blamed on caste violence. Congress spokesperson and Haryana MlA, Randeep Surjewala, while reacting to General (retd.) Singh’s remark, said that a case must be filed against the latter.
“The statement passed by VK Singh is demeaning, disparaging, insulting. The inhumane remarks about our Dalit brothers and sisters are derogatory, condemnable and reprehensible. It reflects the anti-Dalit mindset of the Modi Government and his ministers,” Surjewala said.
Merely 40 km from the southeastern border of the National Capital, two toddlers, two-and-a-half-year-old Vaibhav and nine-month-old Divya succumbed to burns, while their parents Jitender and Rekha received injuries when their house was set ablaze in a revenge killing perpetrated by members of an upper caste community.
The incident reportedly came two weeks after mother of these two children had filed a complaint with the local police after men from upper caste community had allegedly threatened to kill her family.
A similar unfortunate incident had happened in Mirchpur on April 21, 2010 when Jat men had set 18 homes of dalits ablaze. leading to the death of two innocent dalits -17-year-old Suman and her 60-year-old father Tara Chand, the Mirchpur incident was a reflection of longstanding and deep-rooted acrimony between Dalits, considered as the lower caste and Jats, considered as upper caste.
At the time when the Manohar lal Khattar led State Government is celebrating completion of its one year in the office this month, the Faridabad incident is seen as a blot on State Government’s functioning.
The incident has deepened fears for the safety of dalits in the Jat land of Haryana
The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had already sought a report from Chief Minister Manohar lal on the incident and asked him to ensure peace in the region.