Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, a Dalit organisation, has issued an ultimatum to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat, threatening to campaign against the party in the upcoming Vav Assembly By-polls and Maharashtra Assembly Polls if a senior police officer Rajkumar Pandhian does not apologise for allegedly insulting Dalit leader and Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani.
Subodh Kumud, Gujarat coordinator of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, demanded an apology from IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian within 24 hours. Kumud accused the BJP government in Gujarat of being insensitive towards Scheduled Castes and their concerns.
At a press conference on Thursday, Kumud announced that Scheduled Caste leaders would meet Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Director General of Police (DGP) on October 23 to seek action against Pandian, who currently serves as Additional Director General of Police at the state SC/ST Cell.
On October 15, Mevani, who is also the Gujarat Congress working president, had an altercation with Pandian when the legislator went to meet the senior IPS officer in Gandhinagar to submit a representation about some issues concerning Dalits in the BJP-ruled state. He raised the issue of alleged illegal encroachment by anti-social elements on 3,000 acres of land allocated to Dalits during the Congress government for agricultural purposes. According to Kumud, instead of addressing the concerns, Pandian mistreated the MLA, further alleging that the police were protecting these anti-social elements.
Mevani has since sought action against Pandian for “breach of privilege”, alleging the officer behaved in a “rude and arrogant manner” during their meeting.
Kumud claimed, “If Pandian does not apologise to the 50 lakh Dalits of Gujarat, we will campaign against the BJP in Maharashtra, highlighting the insensitivity of the BJP government and its police towards Dalits.”
The ultimatum extends to the upcoming by-election in Gujarat’s Vav assembly constituency, where voting will be held on November 13, where Dalit groups threaten to work against the BJP candidate if Pandhian does not apologise.
Other Dalit organisations, including the Yuva Bhim Sena, Bhim Army and Samvidhan Bachao Samiti of Vadodara, have joined this cause.
Mevani’s complaint to the assembly speaker details the altercation, which allegedly began over a request to leave mobile phones outside Pandian’s office. The Congress MLA claims Pandian made inappropriate comments about his attire and behaved disrespectfully.
As of now, the speaker’s office has not issued any statement regarding Mevani’s letter.
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