Villagers stop Dalit MP from entering the village in Chitradurga Lok Sabha Constituency
Bengaluru, Sep 17: In a shocking incident of untouchability, a Dalit BJP MP in Karnataka was allegedly prevented from entering a Gollarahatti, a settlement of Golla (Yadavs), at a village in Tumakauru district, prompting the authorities to order an inquiry.
The incident occurred Monday evening as Chitradurga MP A Narayanaswamy went to Pemmanahalli village, which falls under his Lok Sabha constituency, for some development work with a video of the conversation surfacing.
Karnataka Industries Minister and senior BJP leader Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday condemned the incident while a top police official said the local Tahsildar, staff of Social Welfare department and police have been asked to visit the village and hold an inquiry into the denial of entry for the MP.
According to police, when the MP approached near the settlement, some people asked him not to enter saying as he was a Dalit and it was against their traditions.
They also pointed out that earlier too Dalit public representatives have not entered their hatti.
Speaking to local news channels, Narayanaswamy said he was 'pained' that such practices continued even today.
The MP said he tried to convince those who prevented his entry that he was there for developmental work and not for any political reason.
"Some among them wanted me to go in, but I moved away with the intention that there should not be any differences between the people within the community leading to clashes," he said.
"But, in the days to come I will certainly work towards eradicating such superstitious beliefs in the community and for their development ," he added.
Tumakauru Deputy Commissioner K Rakesh Kumar said meetings will be held in the village to sensitise the locals and if needed he would also visit them.
"I will have to get the report on what was the reason for their (people) conduct. If we get to know who has done, we can book case under SC/ST Atrocities act," he told reporters.
A video of the MP talking to people and trying to convince them by asking them whether he should work for their development or not, was telecast in local news channels.
In the video, Narayanaswamy can be seen telling people that he has come to do good for them but a section of them were adamant on not letting him inside hatti.
Meanwhile, some villagers told local TV channels that according to their traditions, "Dalits cannot enter" their community settlement. Any 'violation' of the tradition would result in "something bad" happening, they claimed adding there were precedents.
Another villager admitted that the MP had come for a good reason. But said people have been following certain traditions for long. "I apologise to the MP, if he is pained," he added.
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SC seeks Samay Raina, other social media influencers’ presence in court for 'ridiculing' disabled
New Delhi, May 5 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday sought the presence of five social media influencers, including "India's Got Latent" host Samay Raina, on a plea of an NGO which alleged that they ridiculed persons with a rare disorder Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) on their show.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh asked the Mumbai Commissioner of Police to serve notice on the five influencers to ensure their presence in the court, failing which coercive action will be taken.
The bench also sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani on the PIL of NGO 'Cure SMA Foundation of India' for direction on regulating social media content concerning disabled people and persons with rare disorders.
The bench termed the influencers ridiculing such people as "damaging" and "demoralising" and said some serious remedial and punitive action was needed so that these things don't happen again.
"This is very, very damaging and demoralising. There are statutes which try to bring these people into the mainstream, and with one incident, the entire effort goes. You should think of some remedial and punitive action within the law," the bench told senior advocate Aprajita Singh, appearing for the NGO.
Observing that the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression is not absolute, the bench said no one can be allowed to demean anybody under the garb of the right and mulled framing guidelines on social media content concerning the disabled and people with rare disorders.
The NGO had referred to the deficiencies in the existing legal framework and urged the bench to formulate guidelines on online content.
