‘Truth written in headlines of pain’: TMC flays BJP over SC, ST atrocities

Kolkata: “BJP speaks of ‘Justice’ and ‘Empowerment’. But the truth is written in headlines stained with pain,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said, referring to several reported atrocities against Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in BJP-ruled states.

Amid the ongoing debate over dignity and equality for marginalised communities, the party posted a video highlighting incidents from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha that allegedly show caste-based violence.

The video reportedly includes an incident from Rajasthan where a Dalit man was allegedly forced to drink urine, while in Odisha, another Dalit man was allegedly forced by upper-caste individuals to eat cow dung.

In another disturbing incident from Madhya Pradesh, a man was seen urinating on a Dalit man after the latter reportedly protested against illegal mining on government land.

Another case cited in the video is from Uttar Pradesh, where a 65-year-old Dalit man was allegedly humiliated and assaulted inside a temple after he reportedly urinated accidentally within the premises due to illness. He was allegedly forced to lick the urine.

Recently, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also referred to the situation in BJP-ruled states regarding caste-based atrocities. Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), he pointed to rising crime rates against marginalised communities in these states.

“Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have secured gold, silver and bronze, respectively, in incidents of crime against Scheduled Castes,” he said.

Conversely, according to the data cited by him, West Bengal reported one of the lowest crime rates at 0.5 per lakh population.