http://www.hindustantimes.com/Congress-cannot-emerge-as-main-party-without-Dalits-support-PC/Article1-580751.aspx
Congress cannot emerge as main party without Dalits' support: PC
Press Trust Of India
Chennai, August 01, 2010First Published: 14:49 IST(1/8/2010)
Last Updated: 14:57 IST(1/8/2010)
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said Congress cannot
emerge as a principal party without support of the Dalits in the
country and said whenever it was without major Dalit leaders,
atrocities against the community had raised its head. "We all want
Congress to become a principal party in India, especially Tamil Nadu.
But that cannot be achieved
without the support of Dalits," he said at a function in Chennai to
mark the joining of expelled BSP leader K Selvam and his supporters in
Congress.
Dalits constituted a major share in the population and if they were
rejected and their rights denied, there was no
point in India being an independent nation, he said.
"Whenever Congress digressed from focussing on Dalit issues or when
Dalit leaders left the party, atrocities
against Dalits had raised its head. This is a fact. To make India
powerful and prosperous, we need Dalits' support," he
said.
Saying that the likes of Dalit icons such as Babasaheb Ambedkar and
Babu Jagjivan Ram could bring in changes since
they were in the Congress, Chidambaram exhorted members of the
community to join the party and become leaders.
He recalled that Mahatma Gandhi had focussed on Dalit issues and their
aspirations as part of his freedom struggle.
"We accepted that struggle but not today's armed struggle by Naxals," he said.
In its long history, veteran leader P Kakkan was the first Dalit
leader to become TNCC president, later followed by
others like Maragatham Chandrasekhar, Chidambaram said adding a member
of the community could lead the Congressmen in the
future too in Tamil Nadu.
Underlining the UPA's commitment towards Dalits' welfare, he said over
Rs 2000 crore had been allotted for the
students of the community for their educational needs, including those
pursuing M.Phil and PhD.
Speaking at the birth centenary celebrations of Kakkan in Madurai on
Saturday night, Chidambaram denounced honour killings and
discrimination against Dalits, saying such things brought disrepute to
the country.
"Such (honour) killings only brought disgrace and disrepute to the
country..In some places parents removed their
children from schools if the mid-day meal is cooked by Dalits," he said.
He referred to the recent incident in Uttar Pradesh where parents
removed their children from schools where the
mid-day meals were cooked by Dalits.
The country's economic growth rate of nine per cent or Forex reserve
of $300 billion would serve no purpose if
atrocities like untouchability continued in India, he said.
"India will get real independence only if social evils are eradicated
from the heart," he said.
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