Modi has time to talk about Balochistan, but not for Dalits: Congress

Gujarat Congress leaders on Sunday submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee highlighting "atrocities" against Dalits in the state, and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "having the time to think about people of Balochistan" but turning a "blind eye towards the suffering of Dalits" in his home state.

Demanding a time-bound action against the perpetrators, the Gujarat Congress leaders also sought the President's intervention in the matter.

The delegation included Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Bharatsinh Solanki, Congress president's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel, Congress legislature party leader Shankar Sinh Vaghela, and AICC General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry.

"The Prime Minister has time to acknowledge the suffering of people in Balochistan but it is unfortunate that he and his party have turned a blind eye to the suffering of the marginalized and underprivileged in his home state," Gujarat PCC chief Bharatsinh Solanki said.

"We have apprised him (the President) of the rise in social terror in Gujarat, a phenomenon that has manifested over the past 18 years of BJP rule. The atrocities in Una is not an exception but the norm. And the fact that even after the Una incident shook the nation's conscience, atrocities against Dalits still continue with impunity shows the extreme insensitivity embedded in the Gujarat administration," he added.

Solanki said: "He (Prime Minister) spoke eloquently over rogue cow vigilantes but did not tell us how as Chief Minister he encouraged the very business of such vigilantes. For a party whose ideology is based on dividing society, we have no hope that they will take any serious action to erase the deep fault lines in Gujarat."

Congress leaders also requested Mukherjee to intervene in the matter through the Governor of the state.

"We have come to seek the protection of the President and have urged him to use his good offices and issue relevant directions to the administration," said Solanki.

--IANS

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