Dalits protest against Jan Lokpal bill
August 24th, 2011 - 10:23 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) Hundreds of Dalits Wednesday gathered at India Gate and marched towards Jantar Mantar to protest the Jan Lokpal bill proposed by activist Anna Hazare and his team.
Under the banner of “Samvidhan Bachao” (Save constitution), the rally was organised by Indian Justice Party president Udit Raj.
“We won’t let the Jan Lokpal bill break the constitution formed by Dr. Ambedkar. How can we trust a panel which is above the prime minister and the chief justice of India?” said Dheeraj, a businessman.
Delhi Pradesh Valmiki Sanghathan chairman Lal Chand, who also participated in the rally, said: “I want to ask Annaji when people were driven away from Maharashtra where was he? What is the guarantee that the panel will be corruption free?”
The protesters also charged the civil society of being anti-Dalit.
“Civil society is also against the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes,” said another protester.
“It’s not that we are against the bill on corruption, it’s precisely that none of the SC/ST members are part of the panel which is not giving any priority to the minorities,” Udit Raj said.
Some people in the rally also blamed Anna Hazare, who has been fasting here over the issue since Aug 16, for planning a conspiracy along with the Bharatiya Janata Party and against the Dalits.
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- Dalits push their version of Lokpal bill - Oct 15, 2011
- Lokpal panel likely to finalise report Nov 30 - Nov 28, 2011
- A protest against Team Anna goes unheeded - Dec 11, 2011
- Anna Hazare is anti-Dalit: Mayawati - May 13, 2011
- Mayawati wants Dalit on Lokpal Bill committee (Lead) - Apr 22, 2011
- No grievance anymore, bound by Anna's decision: Hegde (Lead) - Apr 23, 2011
- 'Include Dalits, minorities in Lokpal panel' - Sep 20, 2011
- Lokpal bill with PM in but CBI out approved, Hazare furious (Roundup) - Dec 21, 2011
- Anna Hazare to address rally in Mumbai Tuesday - Aug 08, 2011
- Burning Lokpal bill an affront to parliament: Government - Aug 04, 2011
Tags: activist, anna hazare, bharatiya janata party, businessman, chief justice of india, corruption, dalits, dr ambedkar, india gate, justice party, lal chand, maharashtra, mantar, minorities, New Delhi, party president, protester, protesters, udit, valmiki