Union minister for consumer affairs and food and civil supplies Ram Vilas Paswan said the Dalit youth flogging incident that occured in Una town of Gujarat was common. Paswan, a Dalit leader, was speaking at a press conference held at BJP’s media center in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Paswan is in in Ahmedabad for a door-to-door campaign. During the press conference, he said, “The Dalit flogging incident would be counted as a common incident, if we look at the incidents happening in Bihar on an average day.
People in Gujarat created a huge ruckus over the Una incident, but the situation in Bihar is not like this. The Gujarat government took sufficient action against culprits of Una and PM Modi gave his reaction on the issue very timely.”
When the Dalit community has raised its voice against the BJP-led state govenment, Paswan’s comment could stir the hornet’s nest. The Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, under the leadership of Jignesh Mevani, started an agitation against BJP.
He also said, “When Lalu Prasad Yadav was part of the government in Bihar, Dalit atrocity incidents were frequent. Since Nitish Kumar joined hands with the NDA, the situation is improving.”
Later, the union minister tried to balance his statement by saying, “India is like a garden and every flower (community) has the right to blossom here.”
