Rahul Gandhi joins SC/ST protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar, says Narendra Modi doesn't have space in his heart for Dalits

Congress president Rahul Gandhi joined protesters from the SC/ST and Dalit communities at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Thursday. In his address, the Congress president slammed prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP while promising to fight for the minority. Rahul claimed that Modi does not have space for Dalits in his heart. “If Modiji had space for Dalits in his heart then the policies for Dalits would have been different. When he was the chief minister, he wrote in his book that it feels good when the house has been cleaned by a Dalit. This is his ideology,” he said. He said that the Congress wants the government to place the Act in 9th Schedule to prevent it from any interference in future.

“The atrocities act was brought by the Congress and the party will protect it together with everybody,” Gandhi said. Dalits are being openly beaten and crushed in states where the BJP is in power, Gandhi said while addressing the gathering. “We don’t want an India like this. We want an India in which there should be place for everybody, whether Dalits, poor, tribals or minorities… everybody should progress. We will fight for such an India,” he said. Rahul also took a dig at the BJP’s campaign slogan for 2019, ‘Saaf Neeyat, Sahi Vikas’ (Good Intention, Right Development), saying the prime minister doesn’t have ‘saaf neeyat’. Organised by Telangana-based group Mahadika Reservation Vikas, the protestors are demanding the release of their leaders arrested under criminal charges after April’s Bharat Bandh, according to News18 . They are also demanding the arrest of all those involved in atrocities against Dalits. Additionally, they want the government of Madhya Pradesh to immediately make a public statement and announce that cases of atrocities against Dalits will be scrutinised on a priority basis and those found arrested without valid reasons shall be released without any further delay. Dalit groups had called for a ‘Bharat bandh’ on Thursday but it was called off after the Lok Sabha passed the SC/ST amendment bill, which seeks to overturn a Supreme Court order that struck down the provision for immediate arrest. On Wednesday, a written statement issued by the All India Ambedkar Mahasabha (AIAM) said: “Our major demand regarding the restoration of the SC\ST Act has been fulfilled.” A day ago, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale had also appealed to the public to not participate in ‘Bharat Bandh’. With inputs from PTI