Home Minister rejects allegations of rise in ‘Dalit atrocities’ under NDA Rule

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has rejected the oppositions’ claims of rising in ‘Dalit atrocities’ during the NDA regime.  He said there is no data to suggest that crimes against Dalits go up when the BJP is in power, while responding the debate in Lok Sabha on Thursday regarding the recent attacks against Dalits in different parts of the country.

Citing a data, Singh said, “I do not want to go into state-wise figures on crimes against Dalits, but overall figures show that in 2013 the cases of violence against Dalits were 39,346, which rose to 40,300 in 2014 and came down again in 2015 to 38,564, when the NDA took over.”

The Home Minister also revealed that he had directed the states to take stricter action against “anti-social elements” including cow vigilante groups, and anybody who attacked members of the Dalit community.

However, Singh has appealed the Opposition parties not to politicise such issues.

“Blame game is not a solution. We can’t make progress until the poor and downtrodden are empowered… There should be no politics over this issue. We should take it as a challenge to end this injustice,” Mr Singh said in Lok Sabha.