Kharge Demands FIR Over Haldwani Purification Ritual

President of Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, has written a stern letter to Union Minister JP Nadda, demanding an immediate probe into those behind organizing the purification ritual based on caste that took place in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, following the public rally that was addressed by him on 8 August. As per Mallikarjun Kharge, in spite of the event taking place more than two weeks ago, no FIR has been filed against any individual concerned, even though Union Minister JP Nadda had assured Parliament that the matter would be looked into.

Rajya Sabha Assurance Still Unfulfilled

Kharge reminded Nadda about how he was the first one to bring this up in the Rajya Sabha on August 13. At that point of time, the BJP leader had referred to this as an unfortunate incident and assured action against it. But Nadda also stated clearly that the BJP doesn’t endorse this sort of conduct and the matter will be reviewed by the party chief himself. Kharge highlighted the fact that 24 days have already gone by, yet no FIR has been filed to date.

Congress Cites Historical Parallel

To demonstrate the gravity of the situation, Kharge mentioned the episode of Mahad Satyagraha in 1927. BR Ambedkar and other Dalits struggled to get the right to use water from a tank. Kharge pointed out that those who were supportive of the caste system defiled the tank by throwing cow dung and cow urine in it as an act of cleansing it. These sorts of acts are manifestations of casteism even today, according to Kharge. Kharge requested Nadda to ask the chief minister of Uttarakhand to lodge a police complaint.