Dalits still discriminated in MP: Meenakshi

Congress MP from Mandsaur Meenakshi Natarajan today alleged that dalits still face discrimination in Madhya Pradesh's Malwa region and have to sit away from upper caste families during mid-day meals.
"Even now Dalits cannot take out marriage processions on a horse in villages of Malwa and have to sit away from upper caste families when mid-day meals are served," Natarajan said.
The MP, who had earlier also stated about this caste divide at a function here, told PTI that she had come to this conclusion after visiting 120 villages in her parliamentary constituency.
She said that the need for having two witnesses from the upper caste in cases registered under the Atrocities Act should be done away with.

Meenakshi, herself a dalit, said that when she goes to a programme conducted by a community, there is no talk of class struggle but when she raises issues concerning dalits, suddenly people start talking of class struggle.
After she expressed similar views at a function earlier, BJP MLA from Mandsaur Yashpal Sisodia had said that the MP spoke like this only with votes in her mind.
Sisodia had alleged that Congress was always in the habit of creating divisions for its own electoral benefits.