New Delhi, 27 September (H.S.): The Congress has announced that it will convene a Dalit-Adivasi Samman meeting in Delhi on September 29. The meeting will discuss the alleged purification ritual carried out following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s visit to Haldwani in Uttarakhand, alleged atrocities against members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, and the future strategy to prevent such incidents. Congress MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, former MPs, ministers and legislators from Congress-ruled states, and representatives of the All India Congress Committee will participate in the meeting.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, Dr. Mallu Ravi, MP from Nagarkurnool in Telangana, said that the Dalit-Adivasi Samman meeting would be held at 2:30 p.m. on September 29 at the Mavalankar Hall of the Constitution Club. He said the primary objective of the meeting was to discuss the alleged purification ritual that took place after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s public meeting in Haldwani. He said the incident was not merely an insult to Kharge but an insult to the entire Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.

Adivasi Congress president Vikrant Bhuria said that MPs, MLAs, former legislators and members of Legislative Councils from Dalit and Adivasi communities would participate in the proposed meeting. A common agenda would be prepared at the meeting, and a coordinated campaign would be undertaken through joint action platforms in every state to fight cases of injustice and atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis. He said this would not merely be a meeting but an action platform that would raise a strong voice against atrocities committed anywhere in the country.

Manoj Kumar, MP from the Sasaram Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, alleged that cases of atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis had increased during the tenure of the Central Government’s policies.

Tanuj Punia, MP from Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, said that Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar had provided disadvantaged sections with the right to political equality through the Constitution, but the struggle for social and economic equality was still continuing.

Haryana Rajya Sabha MP Karmveer Baudh said that this was not a struggle belonging to any particular political party but a fight for the dignity, rights and justice of Dalits and Adivasis.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar