Dalit activist beaten up, forced to drink urine in Madhya Pradesh
Gwalior(PTI): A 33-year-old Dalit Right to Information (RTI) activist was allegedly beaten up and forced to drink urine by seven people after he sought information related to a village panchayat in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, police said on Monday.
After initial treatment in a hospital here, the severely injured victim, Shashikant Jatav, was shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for further treatment, an official said.
Two of the accused have been arrested following the incident, which took place on February 23, the police said.
Jatav had sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act about Barhi village panchayat under Panihar police station area, Additional Superintendent of Police Jayraj Kuber said quoting the complaint lodged by the victim.
Angry over this, Barhi sarpanch's husband, panchayat secretary and others called him to the village panchayat office on February 23.
The victim was first locked up in a room and then allegedly thrashed severely by the accused, who also made casteist remarks against him. According to the victim, the accused also allegedly forced him to drink urine from a shoe, the official said.
Jatav was initially admitted to the Jayarogya Hospital and Medical College here and later referred to the AIIMS in Delhi for further treatment, he said, adding that an official will be sent to national capital to record the victim's statement.
The police registered a case against seven persons under Indian Penal Code sections for attempt to murder and abduction, and provisions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of atrocities) Act, he said.
More penal provisions could be added in the case after the victim's statement, he said.
The seven accused have been identified as Asha Kaurav, Sanjay Kaurav, Dhamu, Bhura, Gautam, Vivek Sharma and Sarnam Singh, the official said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
