Dalit row: String of national leaders descend in Una to meet victims

After Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Yadav, D Raja, Mayawati, Ambedkar's grandson are likely to follow

As the sleepy town of Una emerges as the epicenter of politics over 'atrocities against Dalits', the cavalcade of leaders descending upon this west Gujarat town continues. After Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the town this week, senior leaders from CPI, CPI(M) and JD(U) would be visiting the Dalit victims in the coming two days.

Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, CPI's D Raja and CPI(M) Lok Sabha member P K Biju would reach Una tomorrow. They would be followed by BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Sunday, July 24. As per unconfirmed reports, senior leaders of the Trinamool Congress and Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (grandson of Baba Saheb Ambedkar) are also likely to visit Una. Dates for their visit, however, are not confirmed yet.

Kejriwal, who met the met the victims of the Dalit family at Una in Gujarat on Friday, said that Gujarat government is 'anti-Dalit'. He alleged that the Dalits of Una were beaten up by the so-called 'cow protectors' in collusion with the state government. He further asked the government to stop its 'policy of oppression' or else the people of the state would teach it a lesson.

"They (Dalits) were beaten up in front of police station. Why did police remain mute spectator? If it happened in front of the police station and in the presence of police, it clearly means that they had a signal from the top. It was done with the approval of those at the top of administration and at the behest of the administration," Kejriwal said earlier this morning.

He visited the PDU General Hospital in Rajkot and enquired about the health of the Dalit victims. He also met the prime accused of alleged stoning to death of police constable Pankaj Amrelia, a Dalit named Kanti Vala in Rajkot.

Saurashtra-Kutch spokesperson Raju Dhruv condemned Kejriwal's meeting with Vala and said that the Delhi CM is resorting to 'cheap politics'.

Reacting to the visits of national leaders in her state, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel claimed that "They are doing politics as they know elections are round the corner." Patel spoke at the sidelines of laying the foundation stone of Raksha Shakti University in Gandhinagar today.

A group of Dalit youths were thrashed by self proclaimed cow protectors last week who were skinning a dead cow at Mota Samadhiyala village in Una town of Gir Somnath. The incident and alleged dereliction of duty by the police sparked off widespread protests across Gujarat by members of the Dalit community which continued for three days leading to arson and loss of public property.

Meanwhile, three more Dalit youths attempted suicide on Friday by consuming poisonous substance. So far, around 20 people