The comments of Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, drew immediate reactions from both the BJP allies and its adversaries, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking his dismissal and asking for a police case against him.
BJP’s ally and Singh’s cabinet colleague Ram Vilas Paswan too, spoke up, asking him to refrain from making such statements. Earlier in the day, when asked about the incident at Sanped village in Haryana’s Ballabhgarh, the former Army chief had said, “See, the thing is, never associate local incidents with the Central government (sarkar). There is an inquiry going on. There was a dispute between families. The dispute…how did it turn out…where did the administration fail, after this it comes to the Centre.
“For everything…like if somebody throws a stone at a dog, then the government is responsible…it is not like that,” Singh said in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency he represents in Parliament, while referring to the burning alive of a Dalit family in Haryana’s Faridabad.
“Here it was a failure of the (local) administration. After that it comes on the (Central) government,” Singh said.
Mounting pressure on the BJP, the Congress also demanded Singh’s immediate sacking. “It is condemnable, it is shocking and it is inhuman to say the least. General VK Singh has insulted not only the entire Dalit community of this country but all Indians. It reflects the mindset of the Modi government which insults Dalits, which insults the minorities and looks down upon the people who are poor and downtrodden,” Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said in Delhi.
Surjewala demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack Singh and tender an apology on his behalf. He also said a criminal case should be registered against the minister under Prevention of Atrocities on Schedule Castes Act.
The minister, however, later clarified his statement was not intended to draw an analogy between the Faridabad incident and stoning of a dog. “My statement wasn’t intended 2draw an analogy. My men & I put our lives on the line 4the nation irrespective of caste,creed & religion. I standby to serve India with the same spirit, right now and always. Our nation, its success and its people motivate me daily (sic),” the Union minister tweeted.
Early on Tuesday, over half a dozen upper caste Rajput men allegedly set ablaze the house where 31-year-old Jitender Kumar was sleeping with his wife and two children. Kumar’s nine-month-old daughter Divya and two-and-half-year-old son Vaibhav were burnt alive. Their mother, Rekha, suffered serious burn injuries and is still critical.
Following widespread criticism, Haryana government has clamped down on the perpetrators of crime arresting seven people and suspending eight cops. Chief Minister ML Khattar met the victim family on Thursday and ruled out law and order breakdown in the state.