The Hindu : Dalits plan mahapanchayat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 29, 2002

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Dalits plan mahapanchayat

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI DEC. 28. A mahapanchayat of representatives of weaker sections of society including Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would be held at Sultanpur Majra village in West Delhi on Sunday. The mahapanchayat is expected to announce the launch of an agitation against "anti-Dalit and anti-poor policies of the BJP-led Central Government".

Announcing this here today, the senior Congress and Dalit leader, Jaikishen, said the mahapanchayat would finalise the date for the "Halla Bol Rally'' to be organised against the increasing incidents of crime against the Dalits and weaker sections and the continuous turning of blind eye to their plight by the Vajpayee Government. He said the rally would be organised at Sultanpur and addressed by a number of prominent and senior Congress leaders. Apart from this, the mahapanchayat would also discuss the socio-economic problems faced by the community and seeks their complete redressal.

Mr. Jaikishen, who has emerged as a top Dalit leader of the party, said the atrocities against the Dalits, SCs and STs and other weaker sections had increased tremendously since the BJP came to power at the Centre. All the pleas for looking into their problems by the community and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, fell on deaf ears. Stating that while unemployment had gone up drastically, the opportunities for these sections had gone down dramatically as the Central Government was privatising one PSU after another. The situation was very bad for the labour class as well as the Backward Classes as they have failed to get justice under the present regime.

The former Congress MLA said the time had come for these sections to sit together and think about the future course of action in order to get a fair deal from the authorities concerned. He said a call would be given to the community to hit the streets in protest against the NDA Government which had proved a failure.

Mr. Jaikishen said Ms. Gandhi was the only hope for these poor sections and said the "Halla Bol Rally'' would signal the unleashing of a campaign against the Vajpayee Government to seek its ouster.

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