NEW DELHI:
BJP president
Amit Shah tweeted today accusing his
Congress counterpart
Rahul Gandhi of lying about the
SC/ST Act "to incite hatred in society".
Along with his tweet, Shah, also a Rajya Sabha MP, posted a video of an undated speech by the Congress president in which he's heard saying, among other things, that "the SC/ST Act has been scrapped."
Shah tweeted saying Rahul "fictitiously revokes the SC/ST Act" in his address.
"Lies and only Lies! See how Rahul Gandhi fictitiously revokes the SC/ST Act to incite hatred in society," says Shah's tweet.
In the video clip posted by Shah, Rahul is also heard saying, "atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis are rising." After saying "the SC/ST Act has been scrapped", he's heard saying "...yet the PM hasn't uttered a word about it."
At the time Rahul spoke, it's likely PM Narendra Modi hadn't said anything about it, because it was only yesterday that the PM spoke out on it, but without directly referring to the Sc/ST Act. He hit out at some parties for politicising the legacy of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar and said no regime had honoured him like his government had.
On March 20, the
Supreme Court, removed the provision of immediate arrest of anyone alleged to have harassed, abused or intimidated a Dalit or Adivasi person. It ruled that instead of an immediate arrest in a case of alleged harassment, a preliminary inquiry must first be conducted by police within seven days of an incident before taking any action.
Dalit groups, the Centre and several opposition parties believe the top court's ruling dilutes the SC/ST Act. Earlier this week on Monday, in protest, Dalit groups supported by various political parties called a 'Bharat Bandh' across the country. Their protest led to clashes in some states which resulted in the deaths of nine people.
The BJP-led Centre on Monday petitioned the top court for a stay on its ruling. A day later the SC refused to stay its ruling, but it did say it will reconsider 10 days after written submissions have been filed by the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Congress and other opposition parties blamed the BJP for the Supreme Court's order. Congress chief Rahul said, "keeping Dalits at the lowest rung of Indian society is in the DNA of the RSS/BJP".
"Thousands of Dalit brothers and sisters have taken to the streets against the Modi government demanding the protection of their rights. We salute them," added Rahul in his tweet.
