 "Gujarat government is 'anti-Dalit': Arvind Kejriwal")
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who met the victims of the Dalit family at Una in Gujarat on Friday said that the Gujarat government is 'anti-Dalit'.
He also visited Dalit youths at the hospital and inquired about their health. Alleging the state government, the Delhi CM said the state government is involved in all these incidents happening in Gujarat.
Kejriwal landed at Rajkot on Friday morning and went to Una and met the members of the Dalit family who were beaten by Gau Rakshaks a week ago. Attacking the state government further, Kejriwal also said that these kinds of incidents are not new in Gujarat.
Earlier, some Dalits were also beaten at the Rajula town in the state. He demanded compensation and government job for dalit family members and youths who had tried to commit suicide.
"Why is the police not taking any action? It shows that the government itself is involved in it. We have to fight against it together. I have been told that strict actions have never been taken against criminals caught for Dalit-related cases in Gujarat. It's a clearly anti-Dalit government," said Kejriwal.
He demanded strict action against culprits and blamed the government that there are about 40 people involved in the incident and so far only 17 were arrested by the police.
"I met the victims. What wrong have they done? They were only taking off the skin of a dead cow. They are doing this for a living since long. It's what their ancestors did. They don't own any land," Kejriwal said.
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A few days ago, some Dalits were thrashed by a group of people in Gujarat's Una for allegedly killing a cow. The incident had come to light after a purported video showing some persons, believed to be 'gau-rakshaks', publicly beating four partially-stripped Dalit youths at Una town of Gir-Somnath district on July 11, had gone viral. The victims' contention was that they were just skinning a dead cow and had not killed it, whereas the accused alleged these youths were involved in cow slaughter.
Protesting against the atrocities against the Dalit youth, agitation sparked off in Gujarat. Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi also visited Gujarat and met the dalit family on Thursday.