Pics: Joshwa D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JD)
Mangaluru, Jul 28: "Creating terror in the name of beef is a conspiracy to prevent Dalit children from getting nutrition and make them malnourished," alleged Prof Narendra Nayak, president of Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations.
He was addressing a protest by Dalit organisations against the union government over the recent attack on Dalits for skinning a dead cow in Gujarat and also against the verbal attack on BSP leader Mayawati by BJP's Dayashankar Singh. The protest was held in front of the DC's office here on Thursday July 28.
"The prices of grains have skyrocketed and a common man cannot afford them. All the money that is collected by increasing the prices goes into Adani's pocket. Hence a situation is being created where we have to change our food habits and depend on meat for proteins. When we think about consuming beef which is comparatively cheaper than other forms of meat, the so-called Hindu organisations create trouble. They are making our children suffer due to malnutrition," Prof Nayak said.
Referring to the incident wherein BSP leader Mayawati was abused by a BJP leader, he said, "It is not about Mayawati alone, but the mindset towards all Dalit women. We do not want mother in the form of a cow, rather we want her to be in the form of a human being. We want equality among humans. They give us lesser respect than an animal. We condemn this strongly. All of us must come together and protest against it."
State convener of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) M Devdas condemned the 'double standards' of the BJP and the right-wing outfits.
"On one hand they call women as a deity and on the other, they call her a prostitute. They have assaulted several Dalits but the leaders from the same party export beef to foreign countries. These are fake Hindu organisations who want to exploit Muslims, Dalits, and the women. It is a conspiracy by the Aryan migrants to impose the ideology of Manu Smriti. We must teach them a lesson in the next elections," he said.
The agitators also held a protest march from Dr Ambedkar circle to the venue.
AICC member P V Mohan, BSP district president Gopal Muttur, DYFI district secretary Santhosh Bajal, corporator Dayanand Shetty and others were present.