Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said he will organise a protest at 5pm on Friday in front of India Gate in Delhi against the gang-rape of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras.
In a video message, Azad said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi needed to break his silence over the brutal rape of the woman. The victim died in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday, a fortnight after she was gang-raped by upper-caste men while she was out with her mother to get fodder.
“The PM washes the feet of Dalits before elections but remains quiet when a Dalit daughter of Uttar Pradesh is brutally raped. We will organise a protest at India Gate at 5pm today. The PM will have to give us answers,” he said.
The Bhim Army chief had also led a protest at Gate Number 5 of Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday, soon after the victim was declared dead. He urged all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand the death penalty for the culprits. “The government should not test our patience. We won’t rest until the culprits are hanged,” he said.
On Wednesday, Azad was put under house arrest by local police in Saharanpur, where he started a “dharna”.
Incidents of rapes were being reported in many districts in UP, he said and demanded that President’s rule be imposed in the state. “Hathras, Azamgarh, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Balrampur… every district in Uttar Pradesh is being embarrassed with incidents of rape. The constitutional machinery has failed completely. Yogi Adityanath cannot handle the government. The president should announce President’s Rule as soon as possible,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
“I am sitting at my house on a dharna, injustice will not be tolerated. In Uttar Pradesh, Dalits are being meted out with injustice. The DM and the SSP of Hathras who have been protecting criminals and performing inhuman acts have not been removed yet. How can one expect justice from such unworthy people?” he asked in another tweet.
Azad reached Delhi along with supporters of his Bhim Army on Thursday.
