INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Our work for Dalits led to jitters among parties, Ravi Shankar Prasad said
welfare of Dalits and the BJP's popularity among depressed classes had led to a smear campaign by other political parties.Stating that the
alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act came through a Supreme Court order on a petition "wherein the centre was not even made a party," the Law
and Justice Minister told reporters that a review petition had been filed
"Our record with regard to welfare of Dalits has been exemplary
The SC/ST Act came into being in 1989
But it was in 2015 when the law was given more teeth by the inclusion of acts such as blackening of face, forcible shaving of head and
prevention from riding a horse under its ambit," Mr Prasad said.The BJP has the largest number of MPs, legislators, mayors, zila parishad
chairpersons and village mukhiyas from the Schedule Castes (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) communities, the minister said."This has led to
jitters among parties, which have always used the weaker section for votes," he said.Lashing out at the Congress, Mr Prasad wondered why B R
Ambedkar was not conferred the Bharat Ratna till the V P Singh government was installed with the BJP's support."On the other hand, we made
Ram Nath Kovind -- a Dalit -- the president of the country," he said.Lambasting BSP supremo Mayawati, who has been severely critical of the
NDA government on issues relating to Dalits, Mr Prasad cited two orders passed during her tenure as Uttar Pradesh chief minister directing
officials to prevent misuse of the SC/ST Act.He termed these as the "greatest affront to the very social group, which she claims to
represent and fight for".On whether the centre would consider bringing an Ordinance if the review petition is rejected by the Supreme Court,
not compromised," he said.On demands for including provisions of the SC/ST Act and reservations in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution,
the law meant to protect the Dalits and that the implementation of the Act is effective," he said.Defending the BJP's stand against
inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians among the Scheduled Castes, Mr Prasad said, "The Constitution clearly states that only those
Inclusion of new groups in the category would lead to infringement of the Dalit rights," he said.On Rahul Gandhi's candle march in New Delhi
yesterday in protest against the rape cases of Kathua and Unnao, the Union minister said, "We believe in ensuring justice to the aggrieved,
Hence I would not like to comment."
