Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Udit Raj on Monday criticised his party leader Raja Singh's statement justifying the recent attack on Dalits in Gujarat's Una by a cow vigilante group and demanded the Hyderabad MLA's expulsion.
The Hyderabad MLA kicked up a fresh controversy by supporting the actions of 'gau rakshaks', who thrashed Dalits for skinning a cow carcass. He uploaded a video supporting his assertion on his Facebook page.
"Raja Singh's statement is condemnable. Dalits were brutally beaten up in Una for skinning a cow. This raises several questions. Is the value of a Dalit less than that of an animal? Secondly, why doesn't the society come forward when such incidents take place? We demand that he be expelled from the party as what he has said is against the party's principles," Raj told ANI.
In a Facebook post, Singh said that it was very good that Dalits were beaten up.
"Jo Dalit gai ke maas ko le ja raha tha, jo uski pitai hui hai, woh bohut hi achhi hui hai (Those Dalits who were taking the cow, the cow meat, those who were beaten, it was a very good thing to happen)," he said.
He also called a section of Dalits "filthy" for slaughtering cows and consuming beef and bringing disgrace to others in their community.
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Singh also condemned the media and political leaders, who criticised the assault on Dalits and questioned the necessity of killing cows or eating cow meat.
Violent protests erupted in Gujarat last month after a video footage emerged of an attack on four Dalit villagers, who were taking a dead cow to be skinned.
The CID arrested four people in connection with the incident on July 28.