MEDININAGAR: Amid allegations of the administration's indifference towards the plight of 50 Dalit families, who were allegedly assaulted and driven out of a village by a mob in Palamu district, the ruling JMM on Friday said the issue was being resolved amicably.
JMM chief spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya also said that land would be provided for the rehabilitation of the families.
Earlier in the day, BJP state president Deepak Prakash, branding the Hemant Soren government as "anti-Dalit", said that the incident of "assault and forceful eviction" clearly pointed to the "dabang" (clout) of one community.
At least 50 families of Mushar community were allegedly assaulted and driven out of Murumatu village in Pandu police station area earlier in the week by a mob, led by village head Israr Ansari.
They have temporarily put up at a building that earlier housed a police station.
Some of the affected families, who had been living in the village for decades, claimed that their children were abducted by the mob and released in Loto jungle in the Chhatarpur police station area.
Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident thus far, two of them on Friday.
Prakash, who met the families along with BJP MP Aditya Sahu, said homes of those "evicted" families have been razed to the ground, and, in the process, a "Shivling was also demolished".
Echoing a similar view, Sahu said the incident exhibited the district administration's "inactive approach".
"The local administration, having woken up now, is preparing Aadhaar documents for these families, but their place of living has been changed," the MP claimed.
"The Soren government was pursuing an appeasement policy to keep their vote bank intact, but the BJP will not tolerate such atrocities," he insisted.
Rubbishing the allegations, the JMM spokesperson said two decimal land and Rs 25,000 in cash were being provided to every family to build a temporary dwelling.
Bhattacharya also said that the JMM was committed to ensuring the welfare of the weaker sections of the society and "the issue was being resolved amicably".
"The JMM government does not need any certificate from the BJP," he maintained when asked about his reaction to the saffron party's "anti-Dalit" tag.
Describing the incident as "unfortunate", he said that "an FIR was registered in the matter as soon as the Palamu administration came to know about it and some of the accused were subsequently arrested. The law will take its own course".