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‘Hathras incident just an excuse, Opposition wants to trigger caste riots’: UP minister
“The Opposition has adopted a completely irresponsible stance and it does not want the truth to come out,” senior cabinet minister Ramapati Shastri said.
Uttar Pradesh senior cabinet minister Ramapati Shastri on Saturday launched a counter-attack on the Opposition parties over the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras.
“Opposition is behaving irresponsibly, wants to trigger caste riots,” alleged Shastri, who is minister for social welfare and SC/ST (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe) welfare.
In a televised statement, he said, “The Opposition has adopted a completely irresponsible stance and it does not want the truth to come out. The Dalit woman’s honour is not dear to the Opposition. The Opposition deliberately wants to get caste riots triggered”.
“Behan Mayawati (BSP chief) is a former chief minister. She should have understood the seriousness of the matter. Medical, post-mortem examination and forensic reports gave ‘negative report’ (indicating there was no rape). Still she, by giving irresponsible statements on social media, has been insulting Dalit women. The chief minister has already constituted SIT (special investigation team) and action has begun on the preliminary report of SIT. This initiative of the government will bring out the truth,” he added.
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“Why is the Opposition opposing narco-analysis and polygraph tests? Tweets, audio-tapes, old incidents of the Opposition point towards a caste riots conspiracy. Hathras is only an excuse,” he alleged.
“The chief minister has already made a provision for a strict law pertaining to crime and atrocities on women which would fast track cases and bring swift justice. The CM already has made recommendations for the death penalty in the POCSO Act (Protection of children from sexual offences Act) cases. In cases of Dalits and women, the government is very alert. All such incidents are taken with full seriousness. In the Hathras case, the CM ordered Rs 25 lakh compensation, job to a family member (of the victim) and a house. Test reports have been made public as well,” Shastri said.
