Thirty-two Congress MPs from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities on Monday decided to approach President Droupadi Murmu over the alleged “purification" held in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani following a rally addressed by party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The MPs met at the Congress headquarters at Indira Bhawan and termed the incident a serious issue concerning the dignity and self-respect of SC-ST communities. They finalised a memorandum seeking the President’s intervention and appropriate action.
The controversy erupted after some individuals allegedly performed a “purification yajna” at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on August 11, three days after Kharge addressed a public meeting there.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had condemned the incident and sought an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against those responsible.
The MPs said the incident amounted to a direct assault on constitutional values of equality, dignity and the abolition of untouchability. They also decided to constitute a parliamentary forum to raise issues concerning SC-ST communities.
Addressing the media, Lok Sabha MP Mallu Ravi said 32 SC-ST MPs, along with Congress's national coordinator (SC, ST, OBC and Minority Department) K Raju and department president Rajendra Pal Gautam, participated in the meeting.
"We discussed the shocking purification incident in Haldwani following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's rally. We have decided to form a parliamentary forum to fight this at all levels. We will be submitting a representation to the president of India on Tuesday," Ravi said.
Raju said the MPs had also decided to establish an SC-ST forum to deliberate on issues affecting the communities.
"We will meet to decide the strategy for raising the issues of SC-STs in Parliament," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
