Human rights activist Martin Luther King III blamed the Centre for increasing atrocities against Dalits and said the government should be held responsible for them.
“The fact of the matter is that incidents against the oppressed and the poor have risen under the Modi government and the PM should address the issue to stay in power,” he told presspersons at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Conference 2017: Quest for Equity. Though India has managed to overcome extreme poverty, “India still has a long way to eradicate poverty and end oppression against the poor and Dalits,” he said. Apparently indicting both U.S. President Donald Trump and Mr. Modi, he said both the U.S. and India are witnessing increased number of hate crimes.
Several scholars and activists lashed out at the Modi government for attempting to impose majoritarian Hindu ideology on minorities and increasing atrocities on Dalits in the name of cow protection. Mr. King said like Mr. Trump’s campaign, the election of Mr. Modi had unleashed “a ferocious animosity against minorities” and parallels abound between the all-right in the U.S. and the Hindu extreme right in India. Scholar Bhikhu Parekh said law enforcement agencies and institutions must be effective in delivery of services as well ensuring justice to the marginalised. Irfan Engineer, director, Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Mumbai, said RSS and BJP were appropriating Ambedkar to secure the support of Dalits. In the name of cow protection, he said the government was imposing culture of upper castes on Dalits.
