Vijayawada: APCC to stage 3-day protest against attacks on Dalits

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) would stage demonstrations for next three days in protest against the attacks on Dalits throughout the State.

Talking to newsmen at Andhra Ratna Bhavan here on Thursday, PCC president Dr S Sailajanath said that the party is extending support to Dalits to express that the society and the Congress party was with them. Referring to the statement of YSRCP leaders that their party was doing more to Dalits than the Congress did for the last 70 years, Dr Sailajanath recalled that such atrocities were never occurred during the Congress rule. "The Congress implemented the Constitution presented by Babasaheb Ambedkar," he said. The Congress brought SC and ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act for the protection of the downtrodden, he asserted.

If anyone speaks against the ruling party, the officials and the police, it appears, were asked to respond on behalf of them, he remarked. The attacks on Dr Sudhakar and Varaprasad occurred when they questioned the government, he said.

"It is surprising that a Cabinet minister asked as to who is Magistrate Ramakrishna." When a Dalit youth was killed due to the excessive use of force by the police, his family was silenced by announcing ex gratia, he said.

Asking the state government to recognise that the Dalits also have human rights, Sailajanath wondered as to how many meetings the Chief Minister attended as the chairman of the monitoring committee according to the amended SC and ST Act.

The PCC president exhorted Dalits to fight against the government since it was attempting to take away their land allotted to them by the erstwhile Congress government. He appealed to the Congress cadres to support and protect the Dalits by making the protest demonstrations a grand success.