Congress president Rahul Gandhi will sit on a day-long fast on Monday at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, to “promote communal harmony and against caste violence” that erupted on April 2 during the Bharat bandh called by Dalit organisations.
For almost three weeks now, since the March 20 order of the Supreme Court order that laid down stringent conditions on how to implement the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Congress has been repeatedly raising the issue of rising atrocities on Dalits in the past four years of the Modi government.
It could be linked to the party’s strategy for Karnataka elections, though party leaders claim Dalit empowerment is an “article of faith” for Mr. Gandhi. A socio-economic caste survey, not yet made public by the Karnataka government, reportedly puts Dalits as the single largest group with 19.5% of the State’s population. Politically dominant castes — Lingayats and Vokkaligas — believed to be more influential come lower down the order in terms of sheer numbers. Though Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah played down these numbers as “rumours”, the Congress chief has made Dalit outreach an important part of his Karnataka campaign.
After Mr. Gandhi accused the “Modi government of being silent when it was being revoked by courts” at an election rally, BJP president Amit Shah accused him of lying and dividing society. “Lies and only Lies! See how @RahulGandhi fictitiously revokes the SC/ST Act to incite hatred in society,” Mr. Shah tweeted.
Charge against BJP
“After the BJP has come into power, we have seen a sharp rise in the violence against the Scheduled Castes, against the tribal people. And now a very dangerous trend of communal violence being perpetrated by their affiliates. So it is they who promoted these vigilantes. So charge coming from Mr. Amit Shah is hilarious,” said Anand Sharma, Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha.
Notwithstanding official denials, caste calculations seem central to the Congress’s bid to come back to power in Karnataka, the only big State that is currently ruled by the party. The BJP had alleged that the Karnataka government’s decision to recommend Lingayats as a separate minority religious group too is aimed at dividing the larger Hindu society on caste and sects. But the Congress party denied the allegations.
“The Congress is not for a particular caste, not for a particular religion. Congress philosophy is to treat all religions equally. Whatever support they require from the government, from the people, they should be given. They should be given their due share ... So far, the BJP has been branding the Congress as an anti-Hindu party that is only focussing on Muslims. Now, when Rahul Gandhi goes to temples, they [BJP] say he is appeasing Hindus,” V. Narayansamy, Puducherry Chief Minister, told The Hindu .
“Historically, there are divisions in society and we have not created them. There are demands, there are agitations and as a political party, you take a view,” Mr. Sharma said.
