Mayawati says BJP responsible if something happens to her

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, May 23

Seeking to publicise her visit to Shabbirpur village in Saharanpur district in UP, BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday said the BJP governments would be held responsible if anything happens to her during her trip to the village which saw brutal attacks on Dalits on May 5.

Before leaving by road from her 3 Tyagraj road bungalow in New Delhi, she blamed the Saharanpur district administration for refusing permission to visit by a helicopter.

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According to her, BSP party workers had written to the Saharanpur District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police seeking permission for her helicopter to land which was apparently turned down.

After refusal of permission she decided to leave by car accompanied by her nephew Akash.

“The BJP governments would be responsible if anything happens to me while going or coming back from Saharanpur, as I wanted to go by helicopter but have been forced to go by road,” she told reporters.

She held Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government squarely responsible for the rising incidents of violence against the Dalits.

Mayawati said she is going to Shabbirpur 18 days after the May 5 incident as if she had gone earlier the administration would have blamed her for aggravating the situation.

She also pointed out that the BSP had highlighted the atrocities against Dalits in Shabbirpur in both houses of the state legislature during the recently concluded session.

Upper caste Thakurs (Rajputs) had allegedly attacked Dalits and injured at least 15 of them, burnt down 60 houses, destroyed property when the Dalits had objected to loud music being played by the DJ while passing the Ravidas temple during the procession being taken out by Thakur youths to mark the anniversary of Rajput king Maharana Pratap on May 5.

Interestingly, Mayawati announced her visit to the strife-torn village a day after the Bhim Sena held a massive demonstration at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on May 21.

While the UP Police has implicated Bhim Sena founder Chandra Shekhar for allegedly instigating the recent violence, he surfaced during the Jantar Mantar demonstration to highlight the Yogi government’s atrocities against the Dalits.

During the Jantar Mantar meeting, Chandra Shekhar gave a call to Dalit activists to collect in Saharanpur on May 23 in order to hand over a memorandum to the District Magistrate demanding a fair enquiry, compensation for the Shabbirpur violence survivors and control the UP Police from terrorising innocent Dalits youth volunteers of the Bhim Sena.