New Delhi, 29 August

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 Leader of Opposition 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.

"Dalits are not allowed to drink water from wells. In tea shops, there are two cups -- paper ones for Dalits and glass ones for others. In a Baraat in India, a Dalit groom wears a helmet as he could be beaten up for riding a horse. This is the reality in the country," Gandhi said.

Citing the examples of Congress president, party's Rajasthan leader Tikaram Jully and NDA minister Jitan Ram Manjhi — who all reportedly faced 'purification' situations at different times — Gandhi said the more successful the Dalit person is, the attack on him or her is more fierce.

"This is another name for untouchability.

"The BJP people practice untouchability. When they do shuddhikaran, they say that Dalits cannot touch as they are impure," Gandhi said.

"They did shuddhikaran on August 10, two days after the rally of Kharge ji in Haldwani. This is a crime. On August 13, Kharge ji raised this issue in Parliament," Gandhi recalled.

The Congress on Thursday accused Uttarakhand BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt of "justifying" the purification ceremony and asked whether the ruling party would take action against the leader as he "defended untouchability".

Bhatt had reportedly said the place was polluted with slogans not fit for a religious place, as he dismissed the criticism over the ritual by the opposition.

The alleged purification took place at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani where Kharge had addressed a gathering on August 8.

Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal has alleged that the Shri Ram Sena had performed the purification ceremony and it was associated with the BJP, a charge vehemently denied by the ruling party.

Kharge had raised the issue in the upper house earlier this month. He demanded that cases be registered under the untouchability law against those involved in the act and that they be arrested.

Leader of the House and Union minister J P Nadda had said the BJP did not subscribe to such activities and that the incident would be investigated.