Dalits form anti-Mayawati forum

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Lucknow, May 20: Dalit leaders heading different outfits in Uttar Pradesh have set up a joint forum that will "expose the anti-dalit policies of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati".

The forum, titled "Save Democracy Forum" includes several former Bahujan Samaj Party leaders, some of whom were known to be close to the late Kanshi Ram.

"The new forum will invite several national leaders in the state to give them a first-hand account of violation of political and democratic rights of dalits in the state under the Mayawati regime. All of us, who have joined the forum, firmly believe that issues related to dalits have not been patented by the Bahujan Samaj Party," said Mr S.R. Darapuri, a former IPS officer and leader of the Republican Party of India.

The forum, incidentally, has the blessings of the Congress, which has been repeatedly targeted by the Bahujan Samaj Party of late, and its members include state leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party, the Samata Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. A joint action committee comprising one member from each organisation has also been formed.

While this forum will seek to expose the anti-dalit policies of the BSP and target its newfound love for Brahmins, another similar forum is being set up at the national level.

Dr Udit Raj, president of the Indian Justice Party told this correspondent on Tuesday that he was making an effort to build a forum at the national level. "I have already spoken to Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and we are bringing in dalit leaders from all states. More than just opposing Mayawati, we want to create an alternative political forum that will sincerely work for dalits in the country," he said.

The anger against Ms Mayawati seems to have been further fuelled by the fact that the UP government has been coming down heavily against state dalit leaders who do not support the Bahujan Samaj Party.

While the Indian Justice Party leader, Dr Udit Raj, was beaten up during a demonstration, Mr R.K. Choudhury, a former BSP minister and now the president of BS-4, was denied permission to hold a seminar.

The Congress Party was also denied permission to hold a dalit panchayat in the state capital recently.

The party’s SC/ST cell state chief Prabhu Dayal Katheria, said, "Mayawati is trying to project herself as a deity for dalits, which is not justified in a democracy like India. She cannot tolerate if anyone speaks about dalit welfare."