Amid the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to ban the automatic arrest and registration of cases against alleged harassment under Schedule castes and tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bhim Army on Monday jointly carried out a symbolic Morcha against the decision of the apex court.
The rally walked to Shivaji Park from Kotwal Udyaan in Dadar and the protestors shouted slogans against the practice of caste and Brahminism, condemning the government and supreme court’s verdict.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) conducted a rally against Supreme Court’s order to ban automatic arrest and registration of cases for alleged harassment of SC/ST. @cpimspeak #BharatBandh #DalitsProtest pic.twitter.com/dp72aL0BJG
— Mumbai Live (@MumbaiLiveNews) April 2, 2018
While pointing out the flaws in the top court’s verdict, CPI (M) leader Subodh More said this decision by the Supreme Court amounts to more exploitation of the Dalits and Adivasis in the country.
The Supreme Court has taken a decision to delete strong provisions under the SC/ST Act given the situation and recent attacks on Dalits and Adivasis in this country,” Subodh More narrated.
Under the SC verdict on March 20, it is stated that the FIR will be filed after eight days of the investigation.
“General complaint is also treated with an FIR but now it will take eight days to file the FIR for registering cases under the SC/ST (PoA) Act,” he further added.
Shaming the central government, More stated that the Supreme Court’s decision came out on March 20 and government did not act until there was a massive uproar in the country. “If the central government had clear intentions, it could have immediately filed a petition against the order and should not have waited for an aggressive reaction from the people.”
Talking about the intensity of the issue, CPI (M) leader Shailendra Kamble said that the atrocities against the Dalits and Adivasis in this country are still ongoing even after 70 years of independence.
A Dalit in Gujarat was killed by the upper caste people just because he rode on a horse,” Shailendra Kamble highlighted and added that “This kind of verdict, in today’s time, is injustice to the Dalits and Adivasis of this country.”
He informed that a statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar was also destroyed in this country. Criticising the government, Kamble said that the BJP government consists of people who endorse Manu and his caste-based approach.
Kamble further informed that in Madhya Pradesh, four protestors were killed during a police firing today and he held RSS and BJP responsible for the same. He said that an appeal was made to the central government to file a review petition, right after the verdict was out, but the government ignored the same until the situation got worse.
“This is just a symbolic protest but our struggle will remain until the provisions of the SC/ST Act are strengthened,” Kamble asserted.
Speaking in support of Bhim Sena, Senior Journalist Raju Jahanake said that the BJP government does not govern according to the constitution. The face of Bhim Army, Chandrashekhar Azad, is booked for 10 months under National Security Act despite his bail.
To this, he said that BJP governs like a dictator and if this government doesn’t correct itself, there will be a huge uproar and resentment.
There has been a huge uproar in the country after the Supreme Court ruled out its decision - diluting important provisions from the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A nation-wide bandh was organised by Bhim Army and demonstrations were carried out against the SC’s decision.
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