Mayawati corners govt in Rajya Sabha over atrocities on Dalits, Muslims

After going hammer and thongs at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government in the Rajya Sabha over atrocities on Dalits and religious minorities, especially Muslims, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president Mayawati on Wednesday said so far, they were torturing men, but now they have started torturing women as well - nothing could be more shameful than that.

Continuing his tirade even outside Parliament, the BSP chief said, "Since the BJP-led government was formed at the Centre, all across the country, especially in the BJP-ruled states, people of weaker sections and religious minorities, particularly Muslims, are being tortured at every level."

"Gujarat is a BJP-ruled state, where Dalit youth were tortured in the name of cow protection. Even as the matter was yet to be settled down, two women of the Muslim community were tortured and thrashed badly in front of police and people, which is not good. So far, they were torturing men, but they have now started torturing women also. Nothing could be more shameful than that," Mayawati told reporters.

Earlier, the Rajya Sabha witnessed a stormy protest over reports of a cow vigilante group allegedly thrashing two women in Madhya Pradesh, with Mayawati taking on the ruling BJP.

She was soon joined by opposition parties, who protested against the incident.

The BSP chief further cornered the government on Gujarat's Una issue, where four Dalit men were allegedly tortured by a cow vigilante group, which led a massive protest by the Dalit community.

Soon the protesting members took to the Well of the House, raising slogans against the government.

Seeking the government's response over the issue, Deputy Chairperson P.J. Kurien urged the protesting members to return to their seats.

To which, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi asked the opposition members to serve a notice to have a full-fledged discussion on the issue.