NCRB data till 2014 shows that crime against Dalits are up by 40 per cent
After Modi left Gujarat and became Prime Minister, the BJP has been hit by one political crisis after another in the state.
New Delhi: It’s trouble time for saffronites who have been trying to play the backward card in the high-stakes elections that lie ahead in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The BJP, which claimed to have the support of a large chunk of upper castes across the country, has been trying to reach out to Dalits, who constitute nearly 17 per cent of the country’s population.
Party strategists claimed since Dalits were under-represented at the national-level, the BJP could provide them leadership. It was pointed out that despite Mayawati’s attempts to reach out to Dalits, she had never been able to make her presence felt outside UP and this was the space that the BJP was looking for at the national-level.
On Wednesday, the RSS in Gujarat issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns all forms of discrimination, injustice and atrocities in the name of caste”, while VHP leader Pravin Togadia tweeted: “Just bcoz the name is ‘Goraksha Dal’ doesn’t mean that they are associated with VHP. Those who implicate VHP in this matter should refrain (sic).”
It may be recalled that recently the VHP had thrown its support behind the Gau Raksha Dal, that was accused of force-feeding cow dung to beef transporters in Haryana.
The Dalit backlash, that has virtually shaken the saffron leadership, is expected to have an adverse impact in Punjab, where the BJP-Akali Dal alliance was already hit by anti-incumbency. Punjab’s Dalit population is 31 per cent, compared to 20.5 per cent in Uttar Pradesh.
After Narendra Modi left Gujarat and became Prime Minister, the BJP has been hit by one political crisis after another in the state. Before the BJP could contain the Patel agitation, the Dalit backlash has put the administration on a sticky wicket.
What is worse for the BJP is that the Opposition is now using National Crime Records Bureau data which indicates crimes against backwards have risen after the BJP took over power.
The NCRB data compiled till 2014 shows that crimes against SCs and STs are up by 40 per cent. Meanwhile, facing attack over the recent violence against Dalits in Gujarat, the government asserted in Rajya Sabha that it will not tolerate such incidents which are a “blot on humanity” and rejected the opposition charge that atrocities against the community had increased in NDA rule.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh rejected the opposition charge that cases of atrocities against dalits have increased in last two years and said he could reel out figures of such incidents that took place under Congress rule. “