Row with LG: SC to look into AAP govt’s plea for setting up of constitution bench

February 23, 2017

The Supreme Court today said it would look into the plea for early setting up of a constitution bench to hear AAP government’s appeals against the high court verdict holding LG as the administrative head of Delhi.
The matter was mentioned by the Delhi government before a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar who said, “we will see whether it will come up before or after the summer vacations.”

Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, representing Delhi government, told the bench that this matter has been referred to a five-judge constitution bench and the court, while referring the matter, had “acknowledged that it is an urgent matter”.

He told the bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul, that the court had given them the liberty to mention the matter before the Chief Justice for early setting up of the constitution bench.

ABVP Riots in Delhi University with Police Protection

February 23, 2017

For the second successive day, goons affiliated to the RSS-BJP backed right wing student mafia gang called ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) pelted stones and violently attacked peaceful assemblies of students and teachers in Delhi University. Journalists who were present were also beaten up. Phones and cameras and filming equipment were destroyed.

Courtesy: The Quint. Click here:

An attempt was made to strangle a professor with his own scarf. He, and some other students who were injured had to be hospitalized. Luckily, they are shaken, but out of immediate danger. The incidents have been characterized as ‘clashes’ between right wing and left wing student groups by some sections of the media. Nothing can be further from the truth. These were not ‘clashes’. They were straight-forward one sided attacks by a mob intent on violence. A riot is not a clash.

Delhi Police, which was present in strength on both occasions did not fire pellet guns at the stone pelters and rioters. After all, this is Delhi, not Kashmir, and the Standard Operating Procedure of the Delhi police is to not disturb ‘patriotic’ stone pelters. Rather, patriotic stone pelting, violence and vandalism are protected and encouraged activities, when done in the defense of the nation by the enthusiastic ‘children’ and wards of the present regime. The ABVP knows this well, because one of their persistent slogans heard yesterday, was, reportedly, ‘Yeh Andar Ki Baat Hai, Police Hamare Saath Hai’ (‘we know it from the inside, the police is on our side’).

You can fault the ABVP on many things. You can accuse them of being a fascist militia intent on destroying higher education in India, which they are. You can call them thugs out to crack skulls on campuses, which they are. You can accuse them of derailing education by preventing debate and discussion in universities, and you would not be wrong in doing so. You can point, correctly, to their colorful habit of using maadarchod (‘motherfucker’) as invective against students who are not with them, even as they cry themselves hoarse shouting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ as ways of expressing their feelings towards ‘Mother India’. You can call them stooges of corrupt university administrations, which they are. You can call them informers and scabs, which they are. And the list of the things that you can call them, with accuracy, can grow longer still.

But you can’t fault them on the extent of honesty and sincerity with which they admit that the Delhi Police and the ABVP are in bed with each other. The ABVP is law and order disguised as thuggery, and the police is present to enforce, not suppress law and order in university spaces. When student activists are violently attacked by right wing goons and ABVP cadre outside the RSS headquarters, the Delhi police shields the attackers. When ABVP level false charges against students in JNU, the Delhi police obliges them by arresting the accused students for sedition.

When a student like Najeeb Ahmed disappears from JNU following intimidation and violence by ABVP members, the Delhi police ensures that the names of the assaulting students are not registered in the FIR. It also ensures that they are not investigated for Najeeb’s disappearance. And yesterday, when students who were attacked with stones, molested and manhandled violently by the ABVP, the Delhi police not only refuses to file an FIR, rather, resorts to a lathi charge at Maurice Nagar police station against the students who had gathered there to demand the filing of the FIR. All of this happened while the ABVP jeered in the background.

Reports from tonight indicate that while the Delhi police has declared section 144 in Delhi University (making gatherings and protests on campus illegal) ABVP goons are moving in motorcycle borne squads, armed with sticks and razors, through hostels and the neighborhoods close to the university, looking for the students whom they believe took an active part in the protests. A Facebook message doing the rounds is asking students who may be attacked to leave north campus and its neighborhood and move in with friends in other parts of the city until things calm down. The Delhi police, as is usual, has not given any assurance of safety or security to any students who fear being attacked. It is not preventing these ABVP ‘search’ squads from undertaking their patriotic duties of intimidation, harassment and the spreading of fear and hatred.

Attacks and a climate of intimidation in universities and institutions of higher education are growing by the day. They are undertaken by the ABVP and Hindutva hooligans in Delhi and Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh with the blessings of the BJP Modi regime at the centre, by the ABVP and the student outfits of the Shiv Sena and the MNS in Maharashtra, by the Trinamool Chchatra Parishad in West Bengal, by student groups allied with Islamist organisations (and even with some mainstream, so called ‘secular parties’) in places like Aligarh Muslim University and by the CPI-M backed SFI in Kerala. Often these attacks have the tacit backing and approval of university administrators and local authorities.

There is, as I have said before, a state of war against the young, and universities are their battleground. The current regime has been successful to a certain extent in dividing students by creating an atmosphere where the constant playing up of the ‘identity’ of different communities within university spaces seems like a relevant and necessary option. In the long run, this has to be seen for what it is, as a campaign of attrition and distraction that saps the energy of student activism from within.

The time may have come for everyone concerned to think beyond the standard response of holding protest gatherings that themselves become targets, or organizing ‘lecture series’ that provide us with some satisfaction, but do little to tackle the facts on the ground. So far, left student groups have been forced to adopt defensive postures to contain the ratcheting up of pressure, violence and intimidation tactics from the right. This is required, as no one could predict the extent to which the right-wing thugs and their protectors in universities could descend to unleash their poison. But its been little more than a year since Rohith Vemula died, since the events of 9th February happened in JNU and its been several months since Najeeb disappeared. In the interim, the UGC has cut seats, and the ABVP has cut its teeth on a fresh wave of violence.

However given the scale of what we are encountering, as it becomes clear we are in this battle for the long-haul, is it time to consider what other response and politics may be forged at this juncture? Is there a way for us to take back the initiative? Even as I salute the extraordinary courage that students and young faculty have displayed in protecting their spaces, protecting each other and ensuring that the right is unable to perpetuate silence, I also worry about the toll in fatigue that another round of hunger-strikes will take, or the prospect of being entangled by the red-tape that is attendant to the endless ‘petitioning’ mode. We have to find ways of responding that are mindful of ketone levels and the burn-out that accompanies waiting for court appearances.

I fear otherwise the right-wing will exhaust our energies given the vast resources at their command if we are continually in fire-fighting mode. Clearly, there are several traps ahead. The government and its stooges are waiting for students to make a false move, to answer provocation with badly thought out, violent provocation. Students and their friends all across India have to think, swiftly, to ensure a co-ordinated, well thought out, militant but non-violent responses to the danger that their spaces, their lives and their freedom is in today.

We hope that Kafila, and other online platforms, social media and offline public spaces can become practical forums where a new, imaginative, radical wave can be shaped with a view to taking back universities and all spaces where the young gather to learn and to live. We welcome reports, ideas, accounts, conversations and strategies that can make that happen. In the coming days, especially, if the election results are not favorable to the BJP, we can only expect that the ABVP will unleash more terror out of their own levels of frustration and rage. Let us never forget that the ABVP and the other thugs are resorting to intimidation because they know they and the regime that is backing them is rapidly losing all legitimacy and support. They are afraid, and that is why they need the ‘cover’ of the police and university authorities. Its time to give it right back to them. We need the support, not just of students and teachers, but also of parents, and people in society generally, so that universities are not held hostage. We need mothers and fathers to stand with students and their teachers, as comrades, everywhere.

Let us make them (the right wing thugs and authoritarian tendencies of all kinds) wish that they had never started this fight.

Courtesy: Kafila Online.

Violent protests at Delhi’s Ramjas College, several including journalists injured

February 22, 2017

Delhi’s Ramjas College was witness to ugly scenes on Wednesday as protesters clashed with cops over the cancellation of invite to JNU student Umar Khalid to speak at an event.

According to several media reports, several journalists too were beaten by the protesters.

This came after Ramjas college on Tuesday cancelled an invitation to Khalid and former JNU students’ union’s vice president, Shehla Rashid, to address a seminar following violent protests from ABVP and members of the varsity’s student union.

While Khalid was among the students charged with sedition in connection with an event at JNU last year where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, Shehla Rashid, a former JNU students union member, was instrumental in the movement against the students’ arrest. The two students were scheduled to take part in a session during a two-day seminar on “Culture of Protest” organised by Wordcraft, Ramjas college’s Literary Society.

Khalid was supposed to speak on ‘The War in Adivasi areas’ which happens to be his PhD subject as well, while Shehla’s session was scheduled tomorrow. Members of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) and RSS’ students wing ABVP gathered outside the college and shouted slogans demanding that the invite to the “anti-nationals” be cancelled. Organisers of the seminar claimed that the ABVP members “pelted stones, locked the seminar room and cut the electricity supply”, a charge denied by the ABVP.

Heavy police deployment outside #Ramjas college. @htdelhi
— Heena Kausar (@heenakausar19) February 22, 2017

“While the seminar will continue we decided to cancel participation of these two students. It is not that we do not advocate freedom of speech but it had to be done keeping peace and harmony of campus in mind,” Ramjas principal Rajendar Prasad said. Vinita Chandra, professor at the college’s English department and one of the organisers, said, “They locked the seminar room, cut the electricity supply and pelted stones at the window as well. I wonder why police was not involved in handling the situation”.

The principal did not comment on the allegations of lockdown and stone pelting. Police officials claimed that they were present on campus and there was no violence. DUSU President Amit Tanwar claimed that they raised slogans objecting to the two students’ presence on campus but the protest was not violent. “We were against invitation to anti-nationals for addressing a seminar and we shouted slogans demanding that the event be cancelled. However, there was no violence and it was a peaceful protest,” he said.

Umar Khalid alleged in a Facebook post, “I hear a mob of more than 100 ABVP pseudo-nationalists have gathered at the gates of Ramjas College with hockey sticks and stones threatening of large scale violence if an anti-national like me is allowed. “What is ABVP scared of? A discussion on war against adivasis?”

“Police tells the organisers that it will not protect me or them from any attack by ABVP and the organisers will be held responsible for any violence by ABVP. Such is the state of democracy in our country where attackers are given complete protection and those facing attacks are held responsible for the attacks on them,” he alleged.

(With PTI inputs)

The BJP’s communal strategy failed in Bihar. So why are Modi and Shah repeating it in Uttar Pradesh?

February 22, 2017

It is not desperation that has driven the prime minister towards communalism. It is ideology.

Pathologically communal or back to basics? More apt descriptors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments at Sunday’s election rally in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, cannot be found. But let’s be clear: The statements he made are the default setting of the party he leads with his friend Amit Shah.

At the rally, Modi pleaded in the name of non-discrimination that a cremation ground should also be constructed in a village that has a burial ground, and that electricity should be distributed equally between Hindu and Muslim communities, especially during their festivals.

Modi said:

“Gaon me kabristan banta hai to shamshaan bhi bananaa chahiye. Ramzan me bijli aati hai to Diwali me bhi aani chahiye…Agar Holi mein bijli milti hai, to Eid par bhi bijli milni chahiye.
“[If a graveyard is made in a village, it should also have a cremation ground. If a village gets electricity during Ramzan, it should also get the same during Diwali…If there is electricity during Holi, there should be electricity during Eid too.]”

He added:

“There shouldn’t be any discrimination. It is the duty of a government to be unbiased. Injustice shouldn’t be done to anybody…it should never be on the basis of religion or caste or class.”

Graveyards have been a sensitive issue in the villages of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for a long time now. In the year preceding the 2015 Assembly election in Bihar, more than a dozen incidents of encroachment and small-scale violence related to graveyards were reported from that state.

The BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have always tried to keep this issue alive. Muslims have legitimately demanded boundary walls around their burial grounds as sometimes idols are put there in a bit to encroach, or attempts are made to carve out a thoroughfare through these grounds on the pretext of creating shortcuts. The boundary walls offend some Hindus as the land is officially made out of bounds for them. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has played on this feeling of deprivation successfully.

Therefore, the constituency of the BJP is clear about which community is being discriminated against. The myth that Hindus are made to suffer, and Muslims benefit at their cost, has been nurtured in our minds since our childhood. If I recall my childhood days in Bihar correctly, there was a perception at that time that Hindus did not get an adequate supply of water on Holi, the spring festival of colours, and they had to suffer electricity cuts even on Diwali, the festival of lights, whereas Muslims received an uninterrupted supply of water and electricity on Eid and Bakr-Eid. This perception was totally unfounded, but Hindus believed it then, and still do.

Hindu vs Muslim

While making his comments on Sunday, the prime minister perhaps took his cue from Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, who, two days before the first phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh, alleged that electricity wires bypassed Hindu homes.
Reporting on Goyal’s February 9 press conference, the National Herald quoted the minister as saying:

“BJP MP Sarvesh Kumar had lodged a complaint with Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) about discrimination in distribution of power connections on the basis of religion in Moradabad. After inquiry these charges were found to be correct.”

The National Herald later talked to AN Mishra, a top official in the Uttar Pradesh electricity department. Mishra dismissed Goyal’s allegations, saying:

“There is no hop, skip and jump when electricity flows through conductors. There is no mechanism by which you can give electricity to Muslims and deny the same to Hindus.”

The issue of compensation

In the same press conference, Goyal also referred, rather crassly, to the issue of compensation. He alleged:

“The BJP has always been saying that SP [Samajwadi Party] thrives on appeasement of Muslims. It gave different compensation to Hindus and Muslims – the Muslims got more money while Hindus did not even get half of it. This is on record and anyone can verify it.”

Compensation after a mishap or tragedy is another sensitive issue with Hindus. In violence-hit areas in Bihar and western Uttar Pradesh, Hindus often complain that Muslims have been treated royally by the respective state governments while they have been left high and dry. Those who enquire further are also told that if a Muslim police officer dies, his relatives get jobs, and crores as compensation, whereas the families of slain Hindu officers are left to languish without any monetary compensation.

It is not surprising therefore that Modi is consistent. It works through a ritual of repetition, and Modi does not seem to lose heart from the fact that his narrative has not clicked with voters on certain occasions.

Let us compare the prime minister’s Fatehpur speech with his speeches from the Bihar elections to see that they have been consistent. In Fatehpur, apart from demanding a cremation ground for each graveyard, Modi hinted that Muslims are the main beneficiaries of state schemes. He said:

“Ask a Dalit in Uttar Pradesh and he will tell you that he is not getting his rights because these are given only to the OBCs [Other Backward Classes]. Ask an OBC and he will say that Yadavs are enjoying all the benefits. A Yadav says the family members of the Samajwadi leaders are hogging the advantages [government-sponsored benefits], and the rest goes to the Muslims.”

In Bihar, Modi used similar language to accuse the Nitish Kumar government of favouring Muslims, of taking away from Hindus to give to Muslims. It was not borne out by facts, but Modi repeated it unabashedly. He reiterated it even when there was an uproar, and figures disproving his claims were brought to his attention.

At a rally in Buxar, Bihar, on October 26, 2015, Modi alleged:

“These leaders [Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad] are making a devious plan. They are conspiring to take away five per cent reservation of Dalits, Mahadalits, backwards and extremely backwards and give it to a particular community…I come from an extremely backward class and understand the pain of having been born to a poor woman. I will not allow this to happen. I pledge to protect the rights of Dalits, mahadalits and backwards.”

Calling this a sinful plan – “paap ki yojana” – Modi said: “Nobody will be allowed to take away your reservation and give it to any other community in pursuit of their vote bank politics.”

In his Fatehpur speech, Modi also referred to a case in which Arun Verma, the Samajwadi Party MLA from Sultanpur, had been booked for the murder of a woman who had accused him of rape.

Modi said:

“Kya maa-betiyon ki ijjat lootne ke liye SP ki sarkar banai thi…maa-betiyon ki hatya karne ke liye SP ki sarkar banai thi?
“[Was the SP government elected to rape and kill our mothers and daughters.]”

If you put Modi’s comments together with Amit Shah’s pledge in Kaptanganj on Monday to shut down all slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh if the BJP was voted to power and convert “a river of blood of cows, oxen and buffaloes in Uttar Pradesh” into a river “in which ghee and milk flow”, and to form anti-Romeo squads to punish “a particular kind of motorcycle riders” (read Muslims) who harass women, the Modi-Shah strategy becomes very stark.

Inherent ideology

The communal strategy deployed by Modi and his party failed miserably in Bihar in 2015. Then why are Modi-Shah still speaking this tired language?

Those who think in narrow instrumentalist ways believe that only success drives one’s instinct. But there is also something called ideology, which one inculcates, which one is trained in, which one believes in, which is one’s world view and which makes each person who they are.

Social psychologist Ashis Nandy understood the psychological make up of Narendra Modi long ago, when nobody would have dared to suggest that Modi would one day rule India. After interviewing Modi, who was a worker with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at that time, Nandy told his colleague, Achyut Yagnik, that he had just met a textbook fascist.

After Modi took over as prime minister of India in 2014, and everybody was dying to believe that he had changed, that he had been swept into power on an inclusive plank of development, Nandy was interviewed. The interviewer asked Nandy if he would like to comment on his earlier understanding and description of Modi. Nandy said, his voice unwavering, that he stood by his professional conclusion.

Thus, it is not desperation that has driven the prime minister towards communalism.

However, at elite gatherings, one argument put forward to defend Modi’s communal statements goes thus: “What can the poor man do if the idiots do not understand his appeal for development, he has to speak in language they understand.” The people who say this would like us to believe that Modi, and the BJP, is all for development but they need power for this noble mission. Since power comes only through elections, and since the so-called casteist and secular parties have practised only the language of caste and religion for decades, BJP and its leaders have no option but to resort to this communalist communication strategy.

The argument goes on to say: “Everything is fine and no one is discriminated against once the BJP comes to power. Look at Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan – absolute peace and high speed development! Are Muslims not getting a part of this?”

It is this logic that keeps the backers of Modi and the BJP from even raising their eyebrows at the communal statements made by Modi and his party men, often at election rallies. Additionally, the prime minister gets no notices from the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, the anti-minority communal statements are repeated in a loop. These statements accumulate in our minds, their roots going deeper and deeper into our social psyche.

Apoorvanand is a professor of Hindi at the University of Delhi.

This article was first published on Scroll.in

Sexual abuse case on Bengaluru playschool staffer opens up can of worms, more kids complain

February 22, 2017

While the police say they have arrested three officials from the school, parents allege they’re already out on bail.

Image: PTI

One complaint of child sexual abuse at a Bengaluru playschool has opened a can of worms, with several parents now coming forward to reveal the horrors that their children have faced.

On Tuesday, parents of children attending the play school and child rights activists gathered outside the playschool and alleged that it was not the first time the accused, Manju had abused children at the playschool.

Parents say that many of the other children at the playschool have now come forward and informed their parents that they have also faced abuse at the hands of the accused.

“We went to the Marathahalli police station yesterday (Tuesday) at around 8pm and were there till 4 in the morning. Five more FIRs were filed against Manju, who has been accused of sexually assaulting the child. More parents have gone to the police station this morning to file more complaints,” one of the parents told TNM.

He said that his child revealed to him that Manju had tried to assault her, and that she complained to a teacher. But the teacher allegedly dismissed the issue and only gave a ‘warning’ to Manju to not repeat such actions.

The first complaint against Manju was filed on Friday, when a cild complained to a parent about stomach in the tummy. The parent then asked the kids questions, leading to the kid revealing that Manju had sexually abused him.

Some parents alleged that Manju was also in the washroom when the children went in.

“Sexual assault is not the first thing parents think of when children say they have belly-ache. After the incident came to light, I asked my child if Manju had done the same with them as well. The response was shocking. My child said that’s what I have been telling you – that my belly is aching. When I asked my child to describe what happened, that’s when I realised that it was sexual assault,” said the parent of a four-year-old, who goes to the same playschool.

Some parents alleged that after speaking to their children, it was revealed that Manju was present in the room when the ayya would change their clothes before nap time and that he would volunteer to take the children to the washroom.

As the protests gather steam and more parents speak out, the Marathahalli police have arrested the principal and two other officials of the playschool. According to the police, the playschool’s zonal head, Kingston D’souza, principal Veena and a senior official named Praveen were arrested on Tuesday. The police say they have slapped Section 188 of IPC on the trio and have also booked them under various sections of POCSO.

But parents allege that the three officials were taken in for questioning, and were let out on bail in the evening.

The police meanwhile have said that they will record all the statements of parents who come forward. “We are still going through the CCTV footage to see if any of the cameras have captured suspicious activities,” said a police official.

Courtesy: The News Minute

Rohith Vemula declared ‘not Dalit’ based on 2 out of 7 testimonies, councillor’s statement ignored

February 22, 2017

Rohith's father Mani Kumar and paternal grandmother Raghavamma were the only ones who claimed that he wasn't a Dalit.

Following a fresh controversy after the Guntur district administration in Andhra stated that University of Hyderabad (UoH) research scholar Rohith Vemula was not a Dalit, reports suggest that the inquiry went with the 'minority view'.
An investigation by Sudipto Mondal for the Hindustan Times, has revealed that the inquiry by the District-Level Scrutiny Committee (DLSC), received the testimonials of seven people, out of which only two claimed that Rohith was not a Dalit.

The two included Rohith's estranged father Mani Kumar and paternal grandmother Raghavamma.

The DLSC was headed by Guntur district collector Kantilal Dande.

The five people who said that Rohith was a Dalit, include his mother Radhika Vemula, his brother Raja Vemula, his sister Neelima, his paternal grandfather, and his adopted maternal grandmother.

The HT report also suggests that a written statement by local councillor Upalapathy Danamma, who had recommended SC certificates to Radhika and her children, was not even taken into consideration.

It is also important to note that Rohith's father and paternal grandmother 'claimed' him as their own, but did not dispute the fact that Radhika was a Dalit.

When questioned about it, Dande told HT that the primary school where Radhika studied for a brief period, had recorded Anjani Devi as Radhika’s mother, which was "enough proof," to declare her a non-Dalit.

Last week, the state government decided to 'cancel' Rohith's Scheduled Caste certificate.

The DLSC alleged that the SC certificate was “fraudulently” obtained by Rohith and his mother Radhika Vemula.

The controversy over Rohith's caste first broke out after a certificate of his brother Raja Vemula stated that he was a ‘Vaddera’, a caste which is categorised as OBC in Andhra.

It was later revealed that Rohith’s father Mani Kumar was a Vaddera, and his mother was a Mala.

However, Mani Kumar was an alcoholic who deserted the family once he realised that Radhika was a Dalit, the family claimed. Therefore, Rohith, who never knew his father, claimed his mother's caste, and grew up as a Mala.
The state also served a show-cause notice to Rohith's family.

Confirming that the family received the notice, Raja Vemula earlier told TNM, "They have threatened to cancel the certificate if we can't 'prove' our caste. It is ridiculous. We are very disheartened and the authorities are putting us through mental torture."

"We have been talking to lawyers, and plan to respond soon," he added.

Rohith's mother has also alleged that the entire issue was to 'shame' her family and her background.

The latest report by the Andhra government would also have a direct impact on a case pending with the Cyberabad police against UoH Vice Chacellor Appa Rao Podile.

A police case was registered at the Gachibowli police station against Bandaru Dattatreya and Appa Rao, under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after the death of Rohith.

Now with the report claiming that Rohith was not a Dalit, the entire case against the VC and the Minister could collapse, if the family does not 'prove' Rohith's caste.

Courtesy: The News Minute

Varun Gandhi: Rohith Vemula’s suicide letter made me cry, what are we teaching our kids, where is this country heading for?

February 22, 2017

Indore: BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Tuesday recalled how he broke down after reading a suicide letter written by the Hyderabad University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula before he hanged himself on the campus in January 2016.

“Rohit Vemula, a dalit PhD student from Hyderabad committed suicide last year. When I read his letter, I broke into tears. Rohith wrote that he was taking the extreme step because he had committed the sin of taking birth in such form. This line pained my heart immensely,” Varun said.

He was delivering a lecture on the “Ideas for a new India”, organised by a private school here.

Rohith’s suicide had kicked up a huge uproar across the country, with many Dalit organisations and opposition parties holding protests seeking ‘justice’ for the deceased.

Notably, Union Minister and BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya was booked along with others for allegedly abetting Rohit’s suicide.

Varun (36), who represents Sultanpur seat in Uttar Pradesh, also referred to an incident pertaining to discrimination with Dalits, which had occurred in Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh last month.

“Seventy per cent kids in a school didn’t eat their lunch under the mid-day meal scheme for quite some time as the food was cooked by a woman belonging to a weaker section.

“What are we teaching our kids? After all, where is this country and world heading for?” he asked.

Varun said though Constitution didn’t discriminate along the caste and religion basis, “the fact is 37 per cent Dalits in the country are Below Poverty Line (BPL).”

He said 8 per cent Dalit children die before celebrating their first birthday.

“Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar had said we don’t need political democracy but social democracy. His thought was way ahead of his time,” the BJP leader said.

Crack in PDP-BJP alliance in J&K? Saffron party says terrorists preferred over martyrs by state govt

February 22, 2017

Jammu: The BJP, which is a coalition partner in Mehbooba Mufti-led government in Jammu and Kashmir, today accused the state government of rewarding “stone-pelters and terrorists”.

“It is shocking to know that anti-national and anti-social elements are preferred over the martyrs by the (state) government”, BJP State Spokesperson Virender Gupta said today.

“It is indeed very unfortunate that the stone pelters and the terrorists are being rewarded,” he alleged.

“Soft and friendly approach towards those staging proxy war against the nation at the behest of enemy or those who indulge in anti-social or anti-national activities on their instigation is really hurting,” he said.

He said that it was distressing that no announcement has been made for the compensation to any of the families of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in defending the sovereignty of the country.

Gupta said that it was “shocking to know that anti-national and anti-social elements are preferred over the martyrs by the government.”

He claimed that the BJP has always been at the forefront in providing financial assistance recently it gave Rs 5 lakh each to the two families of soldiers killed in Uri attack.

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Row with LG: SC to look into AAP govt’s plea for setting up of constitution bench

ABVP Riots in Delhi University with Police Protection

Violent protests at Delhi’s Ramjas College, several including journalists injured

The BJP’s communal strategy failed in Bihar. So why are Modi and Shah repeating it in Uttar Pradesh?

It is not desperation that has driven the prime minister towards communalism. It is ideology.

Hindu vs Muslim

The issue of compensation

Inherent ideology

Sexual abuse case on Bengaluru playschool staffer opens up can of worms, more kids complain

While the police say they have arrested three officials from the school, parents allege they’re already out on bail.

Rohith Vemula declared ‘not Dalit’ based on 2 out of 7 testimonies, councillor’s statement ignored

Rohith's father Mani Kumar and paternal grandmother Raghavamma were the only ones who claimed that he wasn't a Dalit.

Varun Gandhi: Rohith Vemula’s suicide letter made me cry, what are we teaching our kids, where is this country heading for?

Crack in PDP-BJP alliance in J&K? Saffron party says terrorists preferred over martyrs by state govt

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