Jalandhar (Punjab) [India], September 7 (ANI): Punjab Congress staged a massive protest on Monday against the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), condemning a "purification" ritual conducted in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
The protesters expressed outrage over the ceremony, which allegedly took place after a Congress rally attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, and decried the subsequent registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the incident.
Speaking at the protest, Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa lashed out at the organisers of the ritual and the state government.
"The Congress party in Punjab, and across India, does not believe in caste-based discrimination. We demand that an FIR be registered against the person who performed the 'purification' in Haldwani. The false FIR against Rahul Gandhi should be discarded immediately," Randhawa said.
Taking a swipe at the state leadership on local issues, he added, "I also want to ask the Chief Minister: you claimed you would eradicate the drug menace, yet you failed to do so. Instead, you have allowed drugs to spread across the state."
Chairperson of the Punjab Congress Campaign Committee and former CM, Charanjit Singh Channi, also stated that the protest was a direct challenge to the "discriminatory mindset" of the BJP and RSS.
"We have staged a protest against the mindset of the RSS and the BJP, specifically regarding the incident where the stage was 'purified' after Mallikarjun Kharge had stepped onto it. They treated the stage as 'contaminated' simply because a Dalit had set foot on it. An FIR must be registered against those responsible for this act. This protest serves as an expression of our anger and a warning to the government," Channi said.
The remarks came after Uttarakhand's Haldwani City Kotwali Police on August 30 registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Rahul Gandhi following a complaint regarding his remarks about a "purification ritual" in Haldwani.
The complainant alleged that members of the Scheduled Caste community had themselves participated in cleaning the ground and conducting the ritual, and claimed that Gandhi's remarks mischaracterised their actions.
The complaint was filed by 26-year-old Amit Kumar, a resident of Jawahar Nagar Colony, Haldwani, and a member of the Valmiki community. Kumar serves as an office-bearer of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas organisation.
Police have invoked provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Section 3(1)(r) and Section 3(1)(u) along with Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. Section 199 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, pertaining to jurisdiction, has also been cited in the FIR.
Amit Kumar alleged that Rahul Gandhi's remarks hurt the sentiments of the Scheduled Caste community.
According to the complaint, Rahul Gandhi had, on August 29, described a 'shuddhikaran yajna' conducted at Haldwani's Ramlila Ground as an act of untouchability and anti-Dalit discrimination. The organisers have denied that the ritual had any caste-based motive. (ANI)
Punjab: Congress protests 'purification' ritual in Haldwani; demands FIR against organisers
