SONIA WRITES TO PM, SEEKS BILL TO PREVENT ATROCITIES AGAINST DALITS

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the “distressing rise in incidents of atrocities” against Dalits, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a bill to prevent such crimes in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.

In her letter to the PM, she brought to his notice the alleged atrocities against Dalits in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district where four Dalits were killed by members of another community over a long-standing land dispute. Three months earlier, three Dallits were burnt alive in the same district.

She also mentioned the killing of a Dalit at Shirdi in Maharashtra allegedly for having an Ambedkar song as his ringtone on his mobile phone.

“It is important for the ends of justice to ensure that a fair and an impartial inquiry is conducted in these cases and the guilty are punished as per law. However, it is equally important to ensure that the institutional machinery charged with the welfare and protection of Dalits is strengthened and made accountable so that all Dalits are able to access justice as a matter of right,” Gandhi wrote.

She also alleged that the BJP-led NDA government had “allowed” a UPA ordinance, which among other things sought to strengthen the implementation of the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, to lapse and slammed it for not bringing a bill to replace it in the budget session of Parliament.

“I, therefore, urge you to bring the bill for passage in the upcoming monsoon session,” Gandhi said.