West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday claimed that the Centre is running a “dictatorship” in the country, and that the Bharatiya Janata Party is a “pandemic” that is torturing Dalits the most, PTI reported. Banerjee made the remarks at a protest rally in Kolkata against the Hathras rape and murder.
“Covid-19 [coronavirus] is not a big pandemic,” Banerjee said. “BJP is the biggest pandemic. It is the biggest pandemic of atrocities against Dalit and backward communities. We should stand up against these atrocities. The kind of atrocities that are taking place are completely unacceptable.”
Banerjee claimed that instead of running a government “for the people”, the BJP ran a government “against the people, the Dalits and the farmers”.
Banerjee said she felt like going to Hathras to meet the family members of the deceased woman, the Hindustan Times reported. “I feel like going to Hathras and meeting the victim’s family members; what has happened is condemnable,” Banerjee said. “For me my caste is humanity.”
On October 1, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien was pushed to the ground by the Uttar Pradesh Police, while other MPs from the party alleged that they were touched inappropriately and harassed when they tried to visit Hathras. The police also filed a case against Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, after detaining them on their way to Hathras on Thursday and escorting them back to Delhi. However, on Saturday, the Gandhis were allowed to visit the town.
Four upper-caste Thakur men had tortured and raped the Dalit woman. She died on September 29 at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. She had suffered multiple fractures and other serious injuries when the four accused raped her in her village on September 14. The four men have been arrested. However, the woman was hastily cremated by the police against the requests of her family, which has evoked shock and outrage across the country.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has said that his government is committed to the safety of all women.
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