Will not tolerate harassment against Dalits: Vijay Rupani

Condemning the Una incident, where a Dalit family was flogged allegedly by 'gau rakshaks' for skinning a cow carcass, newly appointed Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has said his government would not accept any type of harassment towards the Dalits.

In an exclusive conversation with Jagdeesh Chandra, the News head of ETV, Rupani termed the Una incident as unfortunate.

"My government won't tolerate any type of harassment to Dalits. Immediate actions were taken as the matter was brought to the notice. Not only the culprits were arrested, the government gave compensation and security to the victims," he said.

The BJP-led Gujarat government has been drawing flak from all quarters over the issue.

Anandiben Patel, who took over as Gujarat's first woman chief minister after Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister, submitted her resignation on August 1 citing age issues.

In her Facebook post earlier, she urged the BJP to relieve her from the coveted post.

She wrote, "I have been working actively with the BJP for last 30 years and I have got the opportunity to manage several responsibilities the party entrusted on me. I am fortunate to have been offered prime positions and major responsibilities by the party."

"I consider it a privilege to manage the women's wing of the party to eventually becoming the chief minister. The party has helped in my development. I have tried my best for result oriented governance and constantly contributed to innovations while working in various departments of the state."

Patel said that she had two months earlier sought to resign from the party to give "enough time to the new incumbent to prepare for important events like the upcoming 'Vibrant Gujarat Summit'.

Her government was criticised for its handling of the outrage created by the public flogging of four Dalit men by self-styled cow protection groups.

A policeman was killed in mob violence and a Dalit committed suicide on July 19 as protests against the thrashing of four youths in Una town snowballed across Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

The Dalit was among the five people from the community who tried to take their lives in separate incidents in Gujarat.