KOLKATA: Eyeing the strong presence of Dalit electorates in West Bengal, which is scheduled to go to the Assembly polls early next year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday held a protest march against the alleged gangrape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in Hathras and said she will stand by the community till the end as her caste is “humanity” and she does not believe in differentiation on the grounds of caste and religion.
The march, the first by the TMC supremo since March when the nationwide lockdown was declared to break the coronavirus infection chain, covered the 2-km distance between Birla Planetarium to Gandhi statue on Mayo Road here.
"The BJP is torturing those who belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. We are always with the Dalits. Today, I am physically here, but my mind is in Hathras. The BJP-led government brutally set the rape and murder victim ablaze in the dead of night without informing the victim’s family. The BJP wants one nation, one leader, one political party. The country is witnessing super autocracy," said Banerjee.
The Trinamool Congress chief’s march labeling BJP “anti-Dalit” is said to be the 2021 Assembly poll ploy as the SC and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities form 29% of the state’s total population, and Dalits could be a deciding factor in 84 out of 294 Assembly seats. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP made deep inroads in Dalit- dominated areas, which were TMC’s turf, and Banerjee’s statement condemning the Hathras incident is seen as an attempt to regain the lost ground.
Referring to the BJP’s allegation against her of favoring minorities, the Bengal CM said: ‘’How many people have been arrested in the Delhi riots? If I raise this issue, the BJP labels me for favoring minorities. The minorities are in distress, I am with them. Today, the Dalits are suffering and I am with them. Today, I am not a Hindu, I am a Dalit. If tribals are in trouble tomorrow, I will stand by their side... Humanity is my only religion.’’
Banerjee also said she had specific information that the victim’s family and the media were being pressured not to highlight the issue.