NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh over the death of Dalit youth in police custody. He also drew parallels between the recent atrocities on Dalits in both- Odisha and MP- and said that the BJP’s ‘
Manuvadi thinking
‘ was responsible for it.
“On one hand, a Dalit youth was killed in police custody in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, tribal women were tied to trees and beaten in Balasore, Odisha. Both these incidents are sad, shameful and highly condemnable,” he said.
“Due to the Manuvadi thinking of BJP, such incidents are happening one after another in the states ruled by them – this is not possible without the support of the government. Such barbarism against the Bahujans of the country will not be tolerated at any cost. We are with them, we will fight with full force for their constitutional rights and to get them justice,” he added.
The incident also drew criticism from the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who called it an “insult of Babasaheb Ambedkar.”
“Insult of Babasaheb Ambedkar and oppression on weaker sections is the basic mantra of BJP’s rule. The case of the death of a Dalit youth in police custody in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh is extremely serious. The family alleges that the youth died due to police brutality. Earlier, there was news of atrocities on Dalit families and the death of a Dalit youth in police custody from Parbhani, Maharashtra. It seems that under the BJP rule, the police have got a free hand to oppress the weaker sections like Dalits, Adivasis and the deprived,” the Wayanad MP said.
Meanwhile, the death of 35-year-old Dalit man
Mukesh Longre
inside a police station in MP’s Dewas district sparked protests from his family, who have accused the police of murder.
Longre died on Saturday after being summoned to the Satwas police station for questioning in connection with a complaint filed by a woman on December 26, according to Superintendent of Police Puneet Gehlot.
A government report, earlier this year, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act revealed that 97% of cases involving atrocities against Scheduled Caste individuals in 2022 were reported across 13 states, with Uttar Pradesh leading the statistics.
This was followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. All three states have been under the BJP’s rule except Rajasthan, where the saffron party came into power in 2023.
