Union minister Ratanlal Kataria on Tuesday said that no government has done as much as the Modi government for the welfare of farmers and Dalits. He went on to say that give the government’s track record, Dalits will not be misled by anyone.
Union Minister of State for Jalshakti, Social Justice and Empowerment, Kataria is a noted Dalit leader from Haryana and he was reacting to a statement of a farmer leader of his state.
Gurnam Singh Chaduni, state president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in Haryana, through a video message, appealed to the Dalit community of the country to participate in the farmers’ movement.
In the video message, Chaduni says, “If the Dalit brothers join this movement, the BJP government might have to bow down.”
On this, Kataria said in a special conversation with IANS, “Chaduni sir, it is good to keep this valuable suggestion with you, because there are already many problems facing the Dalit society, for which the society has been fighting for years.”
He said, “The first struggle of the Dalits is to get what Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar has promised to them in the Constitution. Modiji has tried a lot in that direction by celebrating Constitution Day since November 26, 2015.”
Kataria said that as Minister of Social Justice, he is also trying to solve issues faced by the Dalits for the education of their children and their dignity and to protect them from atrocities.
He also appealed to the farmers agitating against the new agricultural laws to believe in the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kataria said, “We are also appealing to the farmers that the Prime Minister has clearly told you that MSP (Minimum Support Price) was, is and will remain, then what is the concern?”
He appealed to the farmers to sit down and find solutions through dialogue.
The farmers have been camping since 26 November last year on the borders of Delhi demanding repealing of the three new farm laws and they want a new law for procurement of crops on MSP.
Kataria said this intention to seduce Dalits for the movement is part of “dirty politics”.
With IANS inputs
