Don't politicise atrocities against Dalits: Ramdas Athawale

Dalit leader and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale today said the alleged atrocities against Dalits in several parts of the country should not be politicised.
Asserting that these incidents existed only due to casteism and not because of any particular regime, he said that there was no need for a CBI probe into the flogging of Dalit youths by cow vigilantes in July at Una in Gujarat as appropriate action had already been taken against the perpetrators by the state police.
Attacks against Dalits take place because of "casteism" and not due to any particular regime in any state, be it AIADMK-led by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, BJP or Congress party elsewhere in the country, he told reporters at a press conference here.

"This issue should not be politicised," he said, adding that Jayalalithaa will take strong action against those attacking Dalits in Tamil Nadu.
He said AIADMK returned to power due to Dalit votes in the May 16 Assembly election.
Atrocities happened in several states against Dalits in places, including Una in Gujarat and Sambalpur in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

"Dalits and non-Dalits will come together by following the Constitution," he hoped while adding that every person does not attack Dalits and only some fringe elements were behind them.
On the demand for a CBI probe into the Una incident, he said there was no need for it and added that then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel had visited the area and victims.

Stating that the demand for reservation had been growing, including the one by Patels of Gujarat, Athawale said, "I will discuss the issue with Prime Minister. We will take a decision in Parliament".
The issue should be resolved and there should be no "quarrel" between people who get reservation benefits and those who did not, he said.
To a question on the need for new laws to tackle honour killings in inter-caste marriages, he said though the present laws were not sufficient, the people and society at large should change the present "mindset" which would help tackle such issues.
To encourage inter-caste marriages, he said his ministry was taking steps to hike the monetary aid being given for such marriages to Rs five lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh.

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Athawale asked Jayalalithaa to provide government jobs to one of the couples who go in for inter-caste marriages.
He also said there was no chance for the Congress to come to power in Uttar Pradesh.
"In U.P Congress party is not very strong," he said, adding that it had just two (Lok Sabha) MPs, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi from the state.
Athawale said his party the RPI(A) and BJP will join hands for the 2017 Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh and exuded confidence that the combine will capture power.
He rubbished charges of Congress that Modi-led BJP would tamper with the Constitution, adding that such a thing cannot happen as "nobody can change the Constitution."

On the Cauvery River water issue, he said the Apex Court directive should be followed.
The Supreme Court had on September 5 directed Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next 10 days to address the plight of farmers there.
Athawale also blamed Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and said the state is an integral part of India.