NEW DELHI | Dalit organisations and supporters on Thursday staged a strong protest near Kalyanpuri Bus Stand against BJP Minister Parvesh Verma over the insult of AAP’s Dalit MLA Kuldeep Kumar in the Delhi Assembly. During this, the AAP MLA said Parvesh Verma’s disrespectful behaviour towards him in the Assembly has angered the Dalit community, while pointing out that CM Rekha Gupta deliberately excluded him from the inauguration of the Kondli bridge despite him being the sitting MLA from the constituency because he is a Dalit. Kuldeep Kumar also noted that the bridge was built by the Kejriwal government, with only 5% of the work remaining, yet the BJP government took one-and-a-half years to complete it.
Speaking during the protest, AAP’s Dalit MLA Kuldeep Kumar said, “Several organisations from the Dalit community have come out today to protest against the disrespectful behaviour and language used by BJP Minister Parvesh Verma against me inside the Delhi Assembly. There is tremendous anger among the Dalit community over this incident. Parvesh Verma tried to exercise authority that he does not have.”
He pointed out, “Today, the Delhi Chief Minister and Parvesh Verma came to the Kondli Assembly constituency to inaugurate a bridge. Their thinking is so narrow that they did not invite me to the inauguration because they did not want my name to appear on the nameplate, because I come from the Dalit community. This bridge in Kondli was built by the Arvind Kejriwal government, and only 5% of the work was left. The BJP government took one-and-a-half years to complete that remaining work.”
Kuldeep Kumar further stated, “The bridge had been completed six months ago, but despite that, the Chief Minister did not inaugurate it. The reason was that the Chief Minister hates people from the Dalit community, and this is a Dalit-majority Assembly constituency. The Chief Minister and the BJP government therefore kept the people of this area troubled for six months.”
Calling out the BJP government’s attempt to claim credit for the project, Kuldeep Kumar said, “Today, the Chief Minister has come to inaugurate this bridge because this is a credit-stealing government. They think that the people will forget that this bridge was built by Arvind Kejriwal. But Arvind Kejriwal lives in the hearts of the people, and the people are not going to forget.”
The AAP MLA said, “The people of Delhi are watching the way Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is treating them. Her ministers and her government are displaying an anti-Dalit mindset. Rekha Gupta is the same Chief Minister who removed Babasaheb Ambedkar’s picture and changed the names of schools named after him to CM SHRI. She is the same Chief Minister who gets ministers like Parvesh Verma to use anti-social and insulting words against MLAs like us who come from the Dalit community. The people will certainly respond to this.”
Addressing the protesters, AAP Patparganj District In-charge Surender Jaglan said, “The Delhi government is sleeping on every front. The people of Delhi are very aware. They think that just as the BJP government sitting at the Centre is sleeping, they too can sleep and loot because nobody will speak against them. We have gathered here today against the anti-Dalit mindset reflected in the way BJP Minister Parvesh Verma misbehaved with our Dalit leader Kuldeep Kumar inside the Assembly.”
Explaining the conduct expected from marshals inside the House, Surender Jaglan said, “If marshals take a member out of the House, they have their own procedure and SOP, which they follow. But Parvesh Verma telling the marshals, ‘Take him away’, shows what was going on in his mind: that Kuldeep Kumar is a Dalit.”
Surender Jaglan said, “I am also a Jat and Parvesh Verma is also a Jat. But if these people create an atmosphere of hatred and untouchability against Dalits, how will brotherhood survive? The BJP wants Dalits to be divided among themselves. We have gathered here against this anti-Dalit mindset and have come to send a clear message that we are all one.”
