1.Dalit groups under the banner of All India Ambedkar Mahasabha (AIAM) have given a call for '
Bharat Bandh' on August 9 against the apex court ruling on the SC/ST Act and to press for their other demands.
2.While the centre government has kept its communication channels open to the organisers, it wants that the day to pass off incident-free if the ‘bandh’ goes ahead.
3.Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment
Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday appealed to the public to not participate in the ‘bandh' called by
Dalit organisations. He appealed to the people to maintain peace, harmony and brotherhood in the country.
4.His appeal comes a day after the Lok Sabha passed The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill 2018 to overturn a Supreme Court order concerning certain safeguards against arrest under the law.
5.BJP’s ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader and Lok Sabha MP
Chirag Paswan last week said that there was no reason to go ahead with the bandh as the centre had already brought the amendment bill to restore the law.
6.Paswan maintained that there was a country-wide resentment among the Dalits, SC and ST communities against the apex court verdict, and there was apprehension that the agitation on August 9 could once again lead to unrest.
7.Violence during a similar 'Bharat Bandh' on April 2 had left over 12 protestors dead. It is believed that the 'bandh' and accompanying violence, including police firing, was a setback to the saffron party's assiduous wooing of Dalits ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
8.LJP chief and union minister
Ram Vilas Paswan easrlier claimed that the appointment of A K Goel as the National Green Tribunal Chairman Justice sent a wrong message to Dalits and sought his removal, a demand that was backed by Dalit BJP MP Udit Raj.
9.Goel, a former Supreme Court judge, was on a bench that introduced several safeguards in the Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
10.Sources within the BJP have termed the party's silence on the demand of removing Goel "strategic", as supporting or openly opposing such a call is fraught with risks.
