Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
Police have arrested 22 people in connection with the attack on Dalits returning to Bhavnagar after attending a protest rally in Una town in which cops were also targeted.
The opposition party also alleged that Twitter acted in haste due to "pressure" from the Indian government and was "selective" in removing Rahul Gandhi's tweet and "suspending" his account for putting up pictures of the victim's family as no action was taken against some other handles which carried the same pictures.
The officer, Dr Seema, said she had gone to the village on the directions of the DPRO to review developmental works.
The case has been registered against a mob of 20 persons, including Kana Ahir, Rajesh Maharaj, Kesra Rabai, Paba Rabari and Kana Koli, on the charges of attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery, assault, and under relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.
'They are attacking my wife; they are attacking our 13-month-old daughter. They are saying that I do drugs.' 'I'm giving an open challenge to Mr Nawab Malik and Ms Sana Malik let's go to the labs and let's do the medical test of our family and your family.'
Here are 5 BJP MPs who have taken up cudgels against their party leadership for its handling of Dalit issues.
On Tuesday, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused BJP MP Anurag Thakur of "abusing and insulting" him during the Lok Sabha discussion on the Union Budget.
If the BJP has to work as a junior partner of Vijay's TVK, then either the party will have to change the state leader, or the latter should change himself. Incidentally, ever since Vijay started talking politics and elections, the pro-BJP/Hindutva social media had stopped dragging his name into any non-existing issue.' In particular, they have stopped referring to him by his Christian name, 'Joseph Vijay', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A Dalit woman in Harda in Madhya Pradesh has alleged that two people who had refused to let her take water from a temple tap and subjected her to casteist slurs were yet to face action, while police claimed the two men's statement could not be recorded as "we couldn't find them".
In India elections are never fought in a straight line. It's fought on many issues, at many levels, with multiple emotions and with a bit of good luck, too. Sheela Bhatt reports from Rajasthan.
Action will be taken against such MLAs, he said.
'The brazen politics, in this series of bullying of AMU by functionaries of the Union and provincial governments, utterly disregarding the fact that the matter is sub judice, is quite obvious.' 'One needs to see through the desperate politics of the BJP which governs both Uttar Pradesh and the Centre, especially its woes over its Dalit support base,' says AMU Professor Mohammad Sajjad.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, the race for consolidating the Dalit vote-bank has intensified among all the political parties, more so in Uttar Pradesh, where the community comprises almost 21 per cent of the population.
Without making two-thirds of the country's population a development partner, India's prosperity is impossible, the Congress leader added.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ruled out his resignation, following the Governor granting sanction to prosecute him, in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and said he had done no wrong to step down.
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
The post-mortem reports of the two Dalit minor sisters who were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district confirmed that they were raped and strangulated, the police said on Thursday.
Series of controversies related to Dalit issues have come at a time when the BJP has launched a massive campaign to win back Uttar Pradesh.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Udit Raj on Thursday said that former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli had disclosed to him that he faced discrimination many times but now he shies away as his Dalit status might oust him from the Page 3 circuit.
In a tweet, the chief minister said that the government will appoint top lawyers to ensure the guilty is punished.
"Desh ke chowikdar ki pehredari mein, sansadhono ki chori karai ja rahi hai (the country's resources are being looted under the watch of the country's gateman)," she said in a derisive reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When asked about the Uniform Civil Code, Gandhi said he would comment on it only after he knows what is BJP's proposal.
Four people have already been arrested in connection with the crime.
Taking the matter seriously, the Bharatiya Janata Party government on Wednesday night transferred collector S Vishwnathan, SP Nayak and IG Rajababu Singh.
The government is thrusting new leaders to the fore and moving others aside to create a rift between the Maratha and OBC communities, he said, stressing that those protesting over their demand for non-dilution of the OBC quota are not at fault.
NCP leaders including, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Ajit Pawar were present at the Bada Qabrastan during the last rites of Baba Siddique.
'Today, Dalits can become IAS officers, doctors, IPS, MLAs, MPs and even the President due to the Constitution of India.' 'And if you destroy India's Constitution, then poverty will never disappear.' 'If the BJP is pro-Dalit, they must implement policies which are pro-Dalit.' 'It cannot work if they only talk.'
The brutal incident came to light after a video of the assault went viral. In the video, a group of men is seen thrashing two persons with rubber belts. They later torture one of the victims by pouring petrol on his private parts with a piece of cloth wrapped on a screwdriver.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's unexpected announcement to resign after two days kicked up a strong buzz on Sunday over the names of his wife Sunita and his ministers Atishi and Gopal Rai as his possible replacement.
A video had surfaced on social media which purportedly showed SP leader Mukesh Siddharth making the controversial statement.
The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state.
The protesters blocked roads in several areas of Mumbai, forced shops to shut down.
The alleged attack has come to light amid furore over the assault on Dalits in Gujarat's Una for allegedly skinning a cow.
Gandhi claimed that Dalits, tribals, and Other Backward Classes were made bonded labourers and their participation was lacking in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
If Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil drops a hint of supporting or opposing a particular coalition on the eve of polling on November 20, things may change overnight.
Those convicted included the brother-in-law of Kevin.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday deplored violence against dalits in the name of cow protection
'There are legions of unemployed degree holders across rural and semi-urban belts in Maharashtra. Now, they aren't finding brides.' 'This issue has now snowballed into a social crisis. In 2014 and 2019, they had voted for the BJP.'
'The BJP alliance needs to handle the Maratha quota issue skilfully and address its root cause, which is agrarian distress. Then there is stalled industrialisation. If these issues are addressed, caste fault lines would wither away. But, this is next to impossible in a short span of three-four months.'
