HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said that Dalits are only replying to the attacks on them. He was referring to the recent clash of Dalits and Marathas at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra.
Clarifying the statement he made at the seminar during the day, the minister said, “I meant that Dalits won’t stay quiet if they are continuously attacked and all these are only retorts,” he said at a press meet in the city.
Responding to a question about the increased number of attacks on Dalits after BJP coming to power at the Centre, he said that some groups are unnecessarily politicising these incidents which are only an outcome of the existing caste system in the country. Earlier in the day, the minister attended a seminar at the Osmania University. Later, he met officials of various departments of the State government.
He inquired about the status of appointments of people from the SC and ST communities across government departments. He said that though the reservation for SCs is 15 per cent, Telangana State departments have recruited a total of 17.43 per cent. In case of STs too, there is a 10 per cent recruitment from the community, while reservation demands only 6 per cent.
“We also condemn the attacks by Gau Rakshaks. You should protect the cow but who will protect the humans? If someone’s survival depends on skinning cows, we should let them do it. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn’t like all this,” said Athawale.