BSP, DSS want Kharge replaced

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELLARY, SEPT. 2. Dalit leaders, representing the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS), today demanded the ouster of Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge as Home Minister and urged the Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, to replace him with a man representing the forward community. They also demanded a judicial probe into the Vanenur incident.

Many dalit leaders including Mr. M. Shivanna, State DSS convenor, Mr. B. Gopal, member of BSP national executive committee, Mr. M. Jayanna, general secretary, State BSP unit, Mr. J. Krishnappa, BSP organising secretary, and Mr. C. K. Mahesh of DSS, said that Mr. Kharge, a Scheduled Caste man, had failed to protect the dalits. Attacks on dalits were on the rise after the Congress came to power, they charged.

They said that during the visit of the Home Minister to Vanenur on Tuesday, Mr. Panduranga, BSP leader and advocate, was manhandled by other dalits. They took exception to Mr. Kharge not allowing Mr. Panduranga to speak. After all, Mr. Panduranga wanted to explain the incident at Vanenur where a woman was stripped and the lapses of the police. A dalit leader being manhandled in the presence of the minister showed that the minister and the Government were with the ``haves.''

They charged that attacks on dalits were on the rise during the Congress regime and Mr. Kharge, as Home Minister, had failed to curb this trend. Mr. Kharge had failed to keep his promise to hold the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police responsible for the Vanenur incident. ``Mr. Kharge is a powerless man. This became clear when he failed to prevent his subordinates from roughing up a dalit in his presence,'' Mr. Gopal said.

The dalit leaders said that Mr. Kharge was being made a ``scapegoat'' by the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats. According to them, the Congress came to power by projecting Mr. Kharge as the Chief Minister. Later, Mr. Kharge was made the Home Minister but he was unable to exercise his powers.

Alleging that the heinous incident at Vanenur was committed by the followers of the KPCC President, Mr. Allum Veerbhadrappa, who represents the Kurgodu constituency which covers Vanenur, the dalit leaders urged stringent action against them.

They accused the police of not booking cases under appropriate sections resulting in the accused in the Vanenur incident getting bail.

They apprehended that Mr. Panduranga faced a threat to his life and made it clear that the Chief Minister, the Home Minister, the KPCC President, and the Police Inspector (Bellary rural), Mr. Prabhakar, would be held responsible if anything happened to him. They demanded police protection for Mr. Panduranga and for other dalits at Vanenur.

Mr. Panduranga said he rushed to Bangalore immediately after the incident and met the Home Minister and explained the gravity of the situation. But the minister rejected his request to visit the village saying that it was a clash between the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

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