New Delhi, Aug 29: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked the BJP-RSS over the 'shuddhikaran' (purification) ceremony carried out at the venue of a rally addressed by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in Haldwani earlier this month, saying it was a "crime", and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must order the registration of an FIR in the matter.
The LoP in Lok Sabha said this incident shows the BJP-RSS mindset that they do not want the Dalits to progress and live with respect and be successful.
"We are demanding justice for the Congress president. Give the Congress president justice in Uttarakhand. It is the duty of the central and state governments to ensure that Kharge gets justice," he said at a press conference here.
Gandhi also accused the Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt of defending the purification act and said 20 days have passed since the "crime" was committed, but no action has been taken.
"We demand that an FIR be lodged against those who have done this. PM Modi states that he belongs to every caste and is the prime minister of the country, but his party chief of Uttarakhand defends shuddhikaran," Gandhi said.
It is the RSS people who did it, and the PM should order an FIR under the SC/ST Act against these people, Gandhi demanded, asserting that the Congress will ensure justice for its party chief.
"There is a fight between two ideologies - the Constitution given by the likes of BR Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru on one side, and the BJP-RSS on the other side," he said.
"For thousands of years, violence was perpetrated against Dalits. This is illegal under the constitution, but today also in schools, Dalit children are made to clean toilets. This is the reality of the country," Gandhi said. (PTI)