Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Chinta Mohan on Wednesday said enacting strong laws and implementing them in true spirit would alone help prevent “brutal attacks” on the Scheduled Castes and Tribes across the country.
Speaking at a roundtable here on the theme ‘Attacks on Dalits and remedies,’ Mr. Mohan condemned the alleged honour killing near Palamaner in Chittoor district last week.
He said there had been an upswing in fatal attacks on the weaker sections in recent years.
“The SC/STs Atrocities (Prevention) Act 1989 failed to see proper implementation due to the inefficient administration at the field level. The attacks are not new, but have been continuing since the killings of Dalits in Karamchedu and Tsunduru and elsewhere in the country,” he said.
Social strife
Criticising the election system, Mr. Mohan said it weakened the social fabric of the country and made the muscle, money and community aspects to flourish. “The present election modules have led to marginalisation of the SC/ST communities. As 70% of wealth is in the hands of one percent of the population, it is bound to create social, economic and political inequalities, which largely reflect by way of atrocities against the weaker sections,” he said.
Later, the speakers demanded that Collector Narayana Bharat Gupta and SP Ch. Venkata Appala Naidu visit Usarapenta village and boost the morale of the SC families there, besides extending all eligible benefits to the husband and the child of the deceased woman.
