Opposition incited agitators during bandh: Thawar Chand Gehlot

NEW DELHI: Social justice minister Thawar Chand Gehlot accused the opposition of provoking protesters during the bandh called by Dalit organisations on Monday which led to arson and deaths even as junior minister Ramdas Athavale said the protests were a spontaneous outpouring of anger and opposition parties should not take credit for them.
Importantly, addressing a press conference, Athavale rooted for caste census in the country, saying it would give people an idea of the share of different castes in the population. He said animosity towards SCs/STs/OBCs stemmed from job reservation for these communities and it can be neutralised by giving quotas to the poor among general communities. When told that caste data collected through the socio economic and caste census was pending with the government, Athavale said he would write to the PM that the data be processed and released.

Gehlot, however, targeted the opposition and said, "We had appealed to opposition parties to take the agitation back. However, they provoked SCs/STs... seven people died, several properties were damaged, clashes happened. Opposition parties, which played a negative role, are responsible for this."

About Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's remark that DNA of RSS-BJP was hostile to Dalits, Gehlot said, "BJP is the only party that worked to protect the interest of SCs and STs. Whenever we got a chance, we took the opportunity to make historic decisions for them." Athavale too questioned Rahul's claim that BJP and NDA were anti-Dalit, arguing no party could afford to be hostile to SCs/STs.

He said everybody should realise that reservations could never be scrapped. "The day reservations go, the government will fall," he added. Making a suo moto statement in Lok Sabha, home minister Rajnath Singh said the Centre was committed to protection of Dalits and tribals and also spoke about measures taken to strengthen the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Speaking to TOI, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Supreme Court should have made the Centre a party in the case and it should have been more sensitive in delivering judgment on such an emotive issue.