BJP govt in Gujarat is 'anti-Dalit': Arvind Kejriwal

Asserting that crimes in Gujarat seem to get away without any repercussions, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, presently in Rajkot to meet the Dalit victims who were thrashed for skinning a dead cow, on Friday accused the administration of being involved in letting the assailants get away after committing atrocities on the backward community.

Blaming the BJP government in Gujarat of indulging in 'anti-Dalit' propaganda, Kejriwal indicated that they had a hand in the incident.

"The BJP government in Gujarat is trying to suppress Dalits in the state. Such incidents must stop. Strict action must be taken against the culprits. I met the victims. What wrong have they done? They were skinning a dead cow. It's a job that they have been doing for so long. It's the only source to their daily livelihood, they have no land, no other means. Their ancestors did this as well," Kejriwal told the media here after meeting the victims.

Stating that the victims claimed that the Shiv Sena members came and beat them up mercilessly for just doing their job, Kejriwal asserted that this was not the first instance of Dalit brutality in Gujarat, adding that there had been several cases in the past, which had been quietly swept under the rug.

"In an earlier incident, some Dalits were beaten in front of the police station. This means that somewhere the administration is involved in this. So far, the culprits have not been arrested in the recent case and only 17 have been caught. All the culprits should be arrested and they should get strictest of punishment," he said.

Emphasising that the 17 arrests made in this case were only to 'show' that some action was being taken, Kejriwal added it can be seen in Gujarat that whenever any incident against the Dalits take place no charge sheet is ever filed.

"I met those, who tried to commit suicide and they said that they are hopeless so they did this. We have to protest and so should the whole nation. Compensation and government jobs should be given to those beaten up," the Chief Minister said.

On Thursday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited the Dalit family in Una and assured justice.

Gandhi also announced an assistance of Rs five lakh to the seven Dalits who were beaten up in public.

Earlier, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the state government has taken prompt action against the people behind the ghastly crime in which some Dalits were thrashed over the allegation of killing of cow.

Accusing the Congress and BSP of politicising the issue, Naidu said the BJP and the NDA Government are committed for the social cohesion and will take every step in this direction.