BSP supremo Mayawati today charged the Narendra Modi government with attempting to strip AMU and Jamia Millia Islamia of their minority status and termed the move as "communally and politically motivated".
"The BJP-led central government is out to strip these institutions of their minority status which they got after a lot of struggle and this narrow mentality lowers the prestige of the country...This is like an attempt to make students belonging to religious minorities orphans," Mayawati told reporters here.
"This communally motivated step of the BJP government is actually politically motivated," she said, adding it was aimed at polarising its vote bank before the coming Assembly elections in some states, including Uttar Pradesh.
By dividing the votes on caste and communal lines, BJP wants to serve the purpose of Samajwadi Party along with its own, she alleged, contesting the rationale being given for depriving these institutions of minority status.
"We disagree with the logic that by doing so Dalits and OBCs will get reservation in these institutions," she said, adding Dalits consider religious minorities as their own because they are the ones who had converted in protest against the disparity in Hindu system and BSP always favoured reservation for them.
The BSP chief said if the BJP government is so concerned about the welfare of Dalits and OBCs, it should improve the condition of primary and secondary schools all over the country so children from these sections get education.
"If they are so concerned about children of these sections they should introduce reservation in private sector schools so that they are uplifted, but, instead of taking positive steps they are out to follow the policy of confrontation with a view to polarising votes," she said.
It is unfortunate and shows the difference between "kathni and karni" (words and deeds) of the prime minister and the BJP government, she added.
Meanwhile, referring to the agitation by women against
ban on their entry in Shani Shinganpur temple in Maharashtra, Mayawati said it was reflective of "wrong mentality".
"It is because of wrong mentality that women are not allowed entry in some temples and an agitation is going on in Maharashtra," she said.
It is an irony that priests and pujaris opposing this forget that they too were given birth by a woman, she said.
"Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had wanted to pass Hindu Code Bill for providing equal rights to women but failed," she said.
Mayawati alleged that while on one hand the prime minister is making announcements in the name of Ambedkar, on the other Dalits are being humiliated in the country.
"Atrocities on Dalits have increased ever since no action was taken against Union Minister V K Singh who made objectionable comments on Dalits. RSS and other saffron organisations are playing their game from the background," she alleged.
"A Dalit student, Rohith Vemula, was forced to commit suicide because of this...If he does not get justice even after a judicial probe was ordered, it will be taken that the Prime Minister getting emotional in a Lucknow function over this was merely a political move and he had shed crocodile tears," Mayawati said.
The BSP chief expressed apprehension that Rohith's family will not get justice, alleging that the government has been trying to save some people connected with the case since the very beginning.
She claimed that BJP ministers having RSS background have anti-Dalit, anti-OBC and anti-minorities and especially anti- Muslim mentality which is "most dangerous, casteist and inhuman".
The BSP leader claimed that it is for the first time that such an atmosphere has been created in the country where BJP MPs are openly making a mockery of the Constitution.
"The prime minister who has taken oath to protect the Constitution has let them loose...Such conduct of the BJP is not in the interest of the country," she said.
Referring to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's statement on reservation, she said, "She has openly come out against reservation...This is reflective of her anti-Dalit stance."
"She should know that in India where at every stage casteism is the dominating factor, talking about ending reservation amounts to encouraging injustice and atrocities on Dalits and other weaker sections," she added.
She also warned Dalits, OBCs and minorities against falling prey to allurements.
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Mayawati said even "nexus between BJP and SP" will fail to prevent BSP from coming to power in UP this time.
She also took aim at Congress and Sheila Dikshit, saying the party has projected an "elderly lady from Brahmin community who has destroyed Delhi" as its chief ministerial candidate to garner upper caste votes.
"For a long time, they ruled at the Centre and in UP. They were ousted from power due to their wrong policies," she said.
The BSP supremo said Congress was now talking about 10 per cent reservation for economically backward among the upper castes. Moreover, many jobs were in the private sector where there is no reservation, she said.
"If their intention was good, they could have already done it in their 54 years' rule. I requested them several times, but they didn't take any cognisance," she said.
She said that once BSP comes to power, the dream of 'sarvjan hitay, sarvjan sukahey' (happiness and prosperity for all) would become a reality.
The BSP chief also sought to take the wind out of Congress party's rath yatra and padayatra, saying people would not be befooled by these gimmicks.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to take out a yatra from Deoria, also in eastern UP, in the first week of September to highlight the plight of farmers and other issues.
She also criticised the recent tiranga yatra of BJP to pay tributes to martyrs.
Mayawati, who had kicked off her UP poll campaign from Agra last week, said BSP alone could deliver the goods in the state which had been reduced to 'apradh (crime) pradesh' where women are insecure in all its 75 districts.
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Mayawati said a "desperate" BJP had no option but to accept BSP's "rejected maal (stuff)" as it was facing a shortage of candidates.
"BJP is in a desperate position in Uttar Pradesh and is ready to accept people 'rejected' by our party," she said referring to the recent desertion by two senior BSP leaders Swami Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak, who joined BJP.
"BJP has no candidate in UP, that is why they are including people who have either left BSP or have been expelled," she said.
"Like in Bihar, the BJP does not have any candidates for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in the state. They (BJP) are depending on the 'rejected maal' of the BSP and other parties," she said.
She said under the BJP government, minority communities were living in fear and were being threatened by 'Gau Rakhaks' (cow vigilantes).
Accusing Samajwadi Party of being incapable of controlling crime, she also said cases of rape were soaring in the state.
