MPs demand measures to curb atrocities against dalits

Growing incidents of atro-cities on dalits on Monday echoed in Parliament as cutting across party lines, several members raised the matter in the Lok Sabha and demanded measures to curb them.

LJP MP Chirag Paswan drew the attention of the House towards atrocities against two dalit youth who were allegedly thrashed and urinated upon in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.

Alleging that a series of incidents of atrocities against dalits in Darbhanga and Kishanganj had happened as the state government did not act against such crimes, Mr Paswan demanded a CBI investigation into the cases. He said there were 20 crore dalits in the country, but very few people were willing to come to their rescue at times of crisis.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lek-hi said there has been a lot of politics over atrocities on dalits and added that no castiest remarks should be made, while claiming that in South India, casteist wo-rds were still being used.

“Usage of such words should be stopped and attacks on dalits should not be politicised,” she said.

Congress MP M. Ramchandran raised the issue of the arrest of two sisters on an alleged complaint of a CPI(M) worker in Kerala and claimed that, as they were daughters of a dalit leader, they were harassed by the police at the instance of the Left activists.