CPI(M) to launch platform of nine Dalit welfare bodies

Accusing the RSS of “cheating” Dalits, the CPI(M) has decided to launch a national platform against caste discrimination and social justice.

The platform will include nine Dalit welfare organisations that have been brought under the ambit of the Dalit Soshan Mukti Manch (DSMM). It will hold its first national convention in Delhi on November 27, in which 400 activists are likely to participate, the party said.

Alleging that atrocities against Dalits had increased under the Narendra Modi regime, the CPI(M) said the Finance Ministry is not committed to implementing the SC-ST sub-plan to ensure mandatory allocations to Dalits in the Budget.

Party Polit Bureau member K Varadarajan said there have been systematic efforts by the Modi Government to deny Dalits the benefits of various welfare schemes.

“On the one hand, the RSS leaders are exhorting their cadre to go to Dalit hamlets and dine with them. On the other hand, the Modi Government is cutting down schemes like MGNREGA that has given some amount of relief to Dalits,” he said.

When asked whether the platform is a result of the CPI(M)’s fear of the BJP’s growth among Dalits, Varadarajan said: “The Left parties have been intervening in movements against untouchability much before Independence. In independent India, too, we have been in the forefront of struggles. The BJP and the RSS are behaving like frauds and Dalits are getting cheated. We want to expose this.”

Varadarajan said incidents of honour killings had increased under the Modi regime. “Whenever and wherever there is an assertion by the Dalits for their rights, they are being attacked,” he said.

He urged the Government to ensure the proper implementation of the Prevention of Atrocities Against SCs and STs Act.

COMMENT NOW