Sunil Lohan
*The purification ritual conducted at the ground where Mallikarjun Kharge had walked is proof of the dark reality of caste discrimination that still survives in the country.
*Indian society that reached the Moon’s south pole still hesitates to touch a Dalit: Deputy Chief Minister Dr.G. Parameshwara.
On August 8,Mallikarjun Kharge participated in a public programme of the Congress party at the Ram Leela Ground in Haldwani, Uttarakhand.
I was deeply hurt to learn that the venue where the programme was held was later allegedly “purified” through a ritual simply because Kharge belongs to the Dalit community.
Indians made history by becoming the first to reach the south pole of the Moon,yet it is equally true that our society is still hesitant to touch a Dalit who is part of that very society.It is painful to say that these are the two contrasting faces of Indian society.
I strongly condemn this disgraceful and inhuman act of caste-based humiliation directed against our senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
This incident is evidence that the dark practices of caste discrimination and untouchability continue to remain alive in our country even today.
If the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha himself is subjected to such treatment under BJP rule, what must ordinary Dalits be going through?.
As a Dalit,I am deeply troubled by the question of whether India under Narendra Modi’s rule is being taken back to the era of Manusmriti.
Babasaheb Ambedkar gave us the Constitution as a remedy to the humiliation and inequality that he himself witnessed and experienced.Through it,he showed oppressed communities the path towards a life of dignity.
While we continue to strive through the Constitution to eradicate such social evils,vested interests that refuse to respect the law of this land are still working to keep casteism,untouchability, superstition and regressive practices alive.
Such people are not merely anti-Constitution; they are anti-national as well. Whenever they get an opportunity, they reveal the caste cruelty within them.
If such practices are not brought to an end through the law,future generations will certainly not forgive us.
I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that cases are registered against those who practised unconstitutional untouchability in the name of “purification”,thereby insulting the dignity of Mallikarjun Kharge,and that those responsible are subjected to stringent punishment.
This is also the right time for members of oppressed, Dalit and marginalised communities who are currently with the BJP to introspect and ask themselves whose hands they are strengthening.
