AAP meets Delhi police, NCSC over VK Singh's 'dog' remark on Dalit killings

New Delhi: Intensifying its attack against Union Minister VK Singh over his controversial “dog” remark, AAP on Friday approached Delhi Police and National Commission for Schedule Caste (NCSC) demanding an FIR against the BJP minister.

The party also attacked the BJP-led Haryana government over the killing of two Dalit children in Ballabgarh and the death of another Dalit teenager under mysterious circumstances in the state.

AAP legislators Saurabh Bhardwaj, Vishesh Ravi, Rakhi Birla, Hajarilal Chauhan and senior leader Ashutosh met police officials at Central Delhi’s Prasad Nagar police station in this regard.

“The police told us that they will first inquire into the complaint,” Bhardwaj said.

Ashutosh alleged that Singh’s remarks amounted to a violation of the SC/ST Act and said that the police “assured” the delegation of conducting an investigation into the matter that has snowballed into a major political row.

“The police told us that they need to take permission from the higher-up as filing any case under the SC/ST Act requires approval from a DCP-rank officer. We have told them the stature of VK Singh as a minister should not impact the fate of the FIR,” he said.

Singh’s statements over the Dalit killing triggered a row on Thursday when he said, “For everything… like if somebody throws a stone at a dog, then the government is held responsible… it is not like that.”

Ashutosh also rubbished the minister’s clarification as an after-thought in view of the Bihar polls. Singh had insisted a controversy has been created out of “unconnected sentences”.

“BJP and RSS are inherently anti-Dalit and anti-minorities and that’s why such statements are being issued,” the AAP leader said.

The delegation led by AAP MLAs from reserved constituencies also met P L Punia, chairman of the SC commission and vice-chairman Rajkumar Verka, demanding action against Singh for the comments made by him.

“We met P L Punia as well as Rajkumar Verka and both have assured us that action would be taken against Singh. They told us that by November 2, an FIR will be registered and they will call the DCP of Delhi Police to ask him on what sections a case could be registered,” Birla said.

AAP legislators Birla (Mangolpuri), Rajendra Gautam (Seemapuri), Prakash Jarwal (Deoli) and Manoj Kumar (Kondli) also visited the family of a 15-year-old Dalit boy, who allegedly died in police custody in Sonipat in Haryana recently.

PTI