V K Singh's dog analogy over Dalit burning kicks up storm

Union minister V K Singh on Thursday kicked up a political row when he tried to shield the government from blame in the Faridabad Dalit burning, saying the "government cannot be held responsible if somebody stones a dog."

The dog analogy provoked demand from opposition party for his ouster. They sought registration of a case against him under the Scheduled Castes Prevention of Atrocities Act, and drew parallels with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "puppy" remark with referrence to the Gujarat riots which was construed as directed against the Muslims.

"For everything...like if somebody throws a stone at a dog, then the government is responsible...it is not like that," Singh said in Ghaziabad, the constituency he represents in Parliament, while referring to the burning alive of a Dalit family, allegedly by upper caste Rajputs in Haryana's Faridabad district which left two toddlers dead on the intervening night of October 19-20.

Congress leader Manish Tewari described the dog analogy used by Singh as "preposterous and abominable".

"....comparing the death of two little children who were burnt alive to possibly the stoning of a dog...what could be more preposterous and abominable than that? This reflects the mindset of the government," he said.

"To recall, the Prime Minister of India made a similar analogy about two years back in an interview to Reuters when he said that if a pup gets crushed under the wheels of a car that needs to be empathised (correct) empathised too. That remark was in the context of the Gujarat pogrom," he said.

Later, in a statement, Singh described as "dastardly and cowardly act" the killing of two little children in Faridabad "which is a shocking reflection on the state of our society." "From all indications, the horrific incident was triggered off by a feud between two families. Our society is made up of many individuals, and the act of every sick mind cannot be put at the door of the government, regardless of which party is in power."

"It does not matter who or what the political affiliations are, the perpetrators have to be dealt with without mercy. I also appeal to the media not to deliberately twist my words out of context. What I have said and continue to say is very clear, and there is no ambiguity about it," he said.