E-Paper
RS Chair seeks probe into ‘purification’ claim
Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan on Thursday instructed the government to conduct an inquiry into the alleged incident of “purification of a site” where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a public gathering in Uttarakhand and said action must be taken against the guilty
Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan on Thursday instructed the government to conduct an inquiry into the alleged incident of “purification of a site” where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a public gathering in Uttarakhand and said action must be taken against the guilty.
“...Those who have done the wrong thing, they will be investigated, they should be caught and they should be punished. There are no two different opinions on this…” he said.
Untouchability is outlawed in India and practising it in any form is a punishable offence.
Speaking in the Upper House, Kharge said some “BJP people” had carried out a purification of the site in Ram Lila Maidan where he had addressed a public gathering. The BJP is in power in Uttarakhand which will go to polls next year.
“I did not take any name of any religion, I was only referring to problems being faced by people… but some BJP people conducted a havan at the stage and shuddikaran (purification)…is this the way in a democracy… that too, when I am the leader of the opposition,” he said.
Kharge said he is not making it a political issue, but a case under the untouchability act should be filed against the accused and they should be arrested. “I have been in this House for years … I have never said I am a SC… a Dalit and I need protection. I am capable of fighting …,” he said.
Leader of the House JP Nadda said the BJP condemns the incident. “The BJP does not subscribe to such activities. The incident is painful not just for the Congress but for all of us…”
As the Opposition continued to raise its voice, Nadda said a probe will be conducted and he assured the House that action will be taken. “We condemn this and it is a regrettable issue for all of us,” Nadda said. He also objected to Kharge using the term “you people” while referring to the incident.
Radhakrishnan, who has often expressed his disgust for untouchability in private conversations with MPs, then said an insult to Kharge was an insult to everyone. “If untouchability is not a sin, then there is no sin in the world… we all condemn untouchability…There is no need for anyone to purify us again and again...”.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav condemned the incident and said it the “worst form” of social discrimination under the BJP rule. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal accused the BJP of anti-Dalit character and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apology. “This is an outcome of the BJP’s culture of insults that stems right from the top, down to their cadres. This heinous act by the BJP is completely abhorrent and goes against everything that Dr Ambedkar and our Constitution tells us,” Venugopal said.
