TRS Has Continuously Mistreated Dalits: Congress

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N Uttam Kumar Reddy today alleged that the TRS government was at the top of the country in mistreating dalits.

Addressing a massive meeting as part of Congress Praja Chaitanya Bus Yatra in Manthani on Tuesday where he supported the ongoing agitation of dalits against the attempts to change provisions of SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act, Reddy accused CM K Chandrashekar Rao of repeatedly humiliating dalits ever since the formation of Telangana, and said that Telangana was among the states where dalits and girijans were not safe.

"Like all communities, dalits too had a lot of aspirations from the formation of Telangana. They too believed the promises made by KCR and expected to get three acres of land, double bedroom houses and jobs in their families. However, what they got was only disappointment and insults from the TRS government," he said.

The TPCC chief listed out various instances in the past four years where dalits were subjected to injustices and humiliation. Citing an instance, he said that a dalit youth named Madhukar was brutally murdered in Manthani, but even after one year his second post-mortem report had not come out and the culprits were still roaming free.

He then spoke of the Nerella incident where dalits and BCs were subjected to third degree torture for raising their voices against the sand mafia. And when former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who was a dalit and the daughter of Babu Jagjivan Ram, came to Sircilla and met the victims, KCR even made highly derogatory comments against her.

Similarly, Reddy said, in Manakondur, two dalit youths Mahankali Srinivas and Parashuram attempted suicide by setting themselves ablaze before the residence of TRS MLA Rasamai Balakishan. The youth said that they had felt humiliated over being cheated by TRS leaders who took bribes to sanction the promised three acres of land.

He also said that tribal farmers were booked in treachery cases, arrested, chained and handcuffed just for seeking remunerative prices for their chilli crops.

Reddy said that the KCR family had no respect for dalit leaders. He pointed out that a Madiga MLA, T Rajaiah, was removed from the post of Deputy Chief Minister in an unceremonious manner. He also pointed out that there were no Malas or Madigas in KCR's cabinet.

"KCR will also be remembered in history for expelling a dalit MLA (Sampath Kumar) from the Telangana Assembly for an incident that never happened," he said.

The TPCC chief also pointed out that the TRS government did not spend funds meant for the welfare of SCs and STs. He quoted an observation of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) which said, "Spirit of the statutory provision was disregarded by not utilizing the funds allocated under Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (60%) and Tribal Sub-Plan (57%)."