Delhi’s Parliament Street will see a humongous crowd as the Dalit outfit Bhim Army has planned to stage a massive protest on August 19 to voice their disagreement over the arrests of Dalit activists across the country, founder Chandrashekar Azad’s imprisonment and to expose BJP’s anti-Dalit policies.
At least 30,000 youth are expected to participate in the protest.
The outfit has been joining forces and talking to people in the rural areas of Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar to gather support for the rally since over a month.
Manjeet Nautyal, Bhim Army’s national spokesperson told The Times of India, “Dalit children are being jailed, a leader is deliberately not being allowed to come out despite high court’s bail order, an SC boy is lynched in Meerut, but no action is being taken against those burning the Constitution. All these developments show a dangerous trend. And we as a social organisation, we are left with no choice but to raise our voice against this recurring harassment of the marginalised lot.”
Amidst a protest against the amendments in SC/ST on the aforementioned street, a couple of men burned a copy of the Constitution. The accused were arrested and identified as Deepak Gaur and Abhishek Shukla with the former heading the Youth Equality Foundation (Azad Sena) and Arakshan Virodhi Party, and the latter being the founder of Arakshan Virodhi Party. They were booked under stringent sections of the Prevention of Insults of National Honour Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The organisation also demanded that the cases against those jailed in relation with the April 2 Bharat Bandh violence be withdrawn.
Balak Ram, Bhim leader, said that they are tired of being harassed by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
“Half of our Bhim Pathshalas, tuition centers we run for underprivileged children from the community, have been shut over the last four months since our teachers are being threatened with arrest related to the April 2 bandh. We will give a copy of the Constitution to our Bhim Sainiks as a token of gratitude because we believe in this country,” he told News 18.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will reportedly not be a part of the rally as the organisation wants to keep politics out of the issue.
Bhim Army National President Vinay Ratan Singh stated that this rally was necessary as there is a civil war-like situation emerging from the government’s failure to check issues related to Dalits and caste discrimination, NDTV reported.
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