Dalits begin march to Una, BJP is worried

At a time when the BJP is going in for a change of guard in the state, the dailt uprising in Gujarat has emerged as a major cause of concern for the party that is struggling to stay in the fight in the coming Assembly polls in OBC and dalit-dominated Uttar Pradesh. Thousands of dalits on Friday began a 10-day march from Ahmedabad to Una, putting the ruling BJP virtually on notice. Though dalits comprise only 7.1 per cent of Gujarat’s total population, the echo of the march is expected to reverberate in the poll-bound states of Punjab and UP.

A worried BJP has carved out the key tasks for the new chief minister. One of his major priorities will be to pacify dalits and contain the simmering anger among the Patidar community by isolating its leader, Hardik Patel.

The “March for Freedom”, which started on Friday, will reach Una on August 15. After the assault on dalits for skinning a dead cow by “gau rakshaks”, Una emerged as the epicentre of dalit protests. All the major Opposition leaders, ranging from Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Mayawati, had rushed to Una to consoildate their dalit votebanks.

Reports said that Jignesh Mewani of Una Dalit Atyachar Ladal Samiti, who is leading the march, told the local media the dalits “want to give the message that they will not tolerate discrimination against the community any longer”. The dalits in the state, at a recent rally in Ahmedabad, had pledged to stop skinning cattle carcases and cleaning manholes as a mark of protest against the flogging incident, and demanded that the government must provide them with alternative livelihood options. “During the march, we plan to meet people and make them take an oath that they will not skin animals any more. We will tell them to demand jobs under Digital India and Skill India initiatives, that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has been publicising,” Mr Mewani told the media in Ahmedabad.

The 10 key demands that community leaders put before the government include providing them with alternative livelihood options, reservations for dalits under the quota laws, allotment of land for dalit families, a strong legal framework to fight atrocities against dalits, ensuring that people from the community do not work as scavengers and implementation of the Forest Rights Act.