Apparently worried over the attrition of her core voter base to the newly-founded Bhim Army of young Dalit leader Chandrasekhar Azad, BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday visited Saharanpur, where houses and shops belonging to the Scheduled Castes were recently attacked following the death of a Thakur youth.

Mayawati blamed the BJP for the anti-Dalit riots in the area. Soon after she left the district, there were reports that fresh round of riots had erupted in the area.

Administration biased

After meeting the victims of violence, she told reporters that the administration was biased towards the attackers and that was the reason for the precipitation of violence. “The government should mediate between both the communities. Cases against both the sides should be withdrawn. But the BJP does not want peace in the area,” Mayawati said.

Saharanpur is considered a BSP stronghold, with the party twice winning the Lok Sabha seat here. In 1998, party founder Kanshiram had unsuccessfully contested from the constituency. In the 2014 polls, the BSP witnessed the flight of about 80,000 votes from its kitty to the BJP. The 2016 Assembly results also proved bad for the BSP. It is the Dalit-Muslim combination that has helped the BSP to win the seat in the past.

According to a PTI report, the spiral of violence started from Shabbirpur village, home to around 600 Dalits and over 900 Thakurs. Dalit victims of the clashes say upper caste Thakurs prevented them from installing a statue of BR Ambedkar on the premises of the Ravidas temple in the village.

Later, on May 5, a Dalit group objected to a procession of Thakurs to mark the birth anniversary of Rajput king Maharana Pratap, triggering violence, in which one person was killed and over 15 were injured.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW