MUMBAI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi led the Opposition’s attack against the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government over the incident wherein two Dalit boys were assaulted and paraded naked at a small village in north Maharashtra.
Rahul said it was time to raise voice against the "Manuvadi politics of the BJP and the RSS". History won't forgive us if we don't raise our voices against poisonous politics of the RSS and the BJP, he tweeted.
Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar blamed the BJP government's policies to protect perpetrators for the rise in such atrocities. "This government doesn't act unless a pressure is created. This has sent a wrong message to the perpetrators of such crimes. Atrocities on a section of the society have continued unabated from the last four years. It won't stop until the government changes its attitude," he said.
Ambdekar said he would soon meet the families of victims who were being ‘pressured’ to take back their complaint.
Several politicians, including a delegation of Congress leaders and guardian minister Girish Mahajan, visited the village in Jalgaon district on Friday.
Shiv Sena's Neelam Gorhe said she has sought information on whether the district administration had made the well belonged to Ishwar Joshi open for the public as is the practice during summer months.
Joshi and Prahlad Lohar were arrested and booked under relevant sections of IPC, POA, POSCO and IT Act, said Jalgaon Police Superintendent Datta Karale. According to him, the boys used to regularly go to Joshi's farm to swim in the well even after Joshi repeatedly warning them. He added that Joshi as well as Lohar belong to a community classified under Nomadic Tribes.
Meanwhile, Dalit groups came out on the streets to condemn the atrocity. In Sangli, the Dalit activists burnt an effigy of the government, while Dalit activists in Ahmednagar called for stricter implementation of the Atrocities Act.