Bhopal, July 11: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday accused the Congress of showing dual character by taking different stand on incidents of atrocities on tribals and Dalits in the BJP-ruled state and said the party was practising politics of appeasement.
He said while the Opposition party sought to vociferously raise Sidhi district’s urination incident and atrocities on tribals in the Assembly, it conveniently ignored a degrading episode involving a Dalit in Shivpuri district where he was allegedly forced to eat faeces by members of a minority community.
While the accused in the urination case, Pravesh Shukla, was arrested after a video of the incident went viral, seven members of the minority community were also taken into custody by the police for the Shivpuri episode.
“This is the Congress’ double character as on the same day two videos went viral – one of Sidhi (urination incident) and the other one of Shivpuri (where a Dalit was subjected to humiliation). They took up Sidhi’s video, but avoided mentioning the incident in Shivpuri, where faeces were stuffed in the mouth of a Dalit person. This was because there was Shakeel in that episode (referring to Shivpuri incident), while in Sidhi it was Shukla…this reaction (based on identity of accused) shows their appeasement policy,” Mishra told reporters in the Assembly complex.
The BJP minister, who also holds the parliamentary affairs portfolio, asserted the ruling party will not get deterred by the Congress’s threats. The home minister said in the Sidhi incident, the police have already arrested the accused and booked him under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), while local authorities have pulled down “illegal” portions of his family home.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has washed the tribal victim’s feet and also apologised to him over the horrifying incident, but the Opposition wants to still exploit the issue for political gains, he said. (PTI)
