Mayawati takes up on Smriti Irani's offer of 'beheading'

New Delhi : Asserting that she was not 'satisfied' with Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani's answers on Rohith Vemula's suicide, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday asked if the former would chop her head off and place it on her feet as promised earlier if her reply would be unsatisfactory.

"I request you Mayawati ji, I am ready to give a reply. I have been listening to your demands since the morning. And if you are unsatisfied with my reply then I will cut my head and put it on your feet," Irani had said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Mayawati reminded Irani today that her response to her questions had been most unsatisfactory so if she would stick to her earlier assertion.

"She told me that if I am not satisfied by her response then she will chop her head off and place it on my feet. I am not satisfied with her response, so she should give me her head but I am sure that she will not do such a thing," Mayawati told the media here.

Slamming Irani for her 'Mahishasur' comment, she added that the HRD Minister had insulted the Adivasi and the Dalit community with her statement and accused the writers of Indian mythology to having portrayed both the communities in a negative light.

"Her comment on Mahishasur has insulted the Dalit and the Adivasis of the nation. It was shameful and she put forth a distorted version of the truth and our party condemns it. Those who wrote the Indian mythology have pinned Mahishasur's faults on the Dalits and the Adivasis and they have been portrayed as people who never respected women, whereas they were those who protected Sita," Mayawati said.

She added that Irani should have stuck to the topic of discussion which was Rohith Vemula and accused her of purposely veering off point in an attempt to shift the focus.

"If the government does not want to do anything for these two communities, then at least they should stop insulting them. They should start by sacking V.K. Singh who called them animals," she said.

Mayawati said that the HRD Minister owed an apology to the nation for trying to mislead them by giving out the wrong facts in the matter of Rohith Vemula.

She also alleged that the Gazette formed by the Centre over the probe in the matter was 'illegal' as it was formed without taking consent in both Houses.

"On February 2nd, the government formed an illegal gazette as both the Houses were not notified about it first. We even present of copy of the document in the Parliament today," Mayawati said.

Earlier today, Mayawati and Irani were seen at loggerheads again over the issue of the late Phd scholar from Hyderabad University.

Under fire over the Dalit scholar's suicide, Irani said in the Rajya Sabha, "It is incorrect that there is no member of SC community in the inquiry committee. Rohith Vemula's mother asked for a judicial inquiry into child's death. I assured her justice will be done."

Responding to the HRD Minister's claims, BSP supremo Mayawati said that she was not satisfied with Irani's answers and accused her of indulging in drama to cover up the entire episode.

"It is incorrect that there is no member of SC community in the inquiry committee. The probe commission has not kept any Dalit member. There is no intention of giving justice to Rohith Vemula," Mayawati said.

Mayawati had earlier accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of suppressing the voice of Dalits with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government at the Centre.