The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairman Buta Singh on Saturday visited Jait — the ancestral village of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Sehore district. This visit acquires
significance as it comes close on the heels of the state Congress president Suresh Pachouri raising the issue of dalits being denied entry into the Hanuman temple right across the chief minister’s house in this village.
Mr Buta Singh was scheduled to address mediapersons at the end of his one-day tour of Sehore district but the press conference was called off at the last moment.
When Mr Buta Singh reached the chief minister’s village along with another member of NCSC Mahendra Bodh, the villagers, including dalits were singing bhajans at the temple. Mr Singh later told mediapersons that there appears to be a good cover up exercise by the local administration. Vaijanti, a dalit woman, who was in news earlier this month when she entered the temple along with the state Congress president to offer prayers, told the NCSC chairman that she does not have any grievance.
but another dalit woman from the same village said that her son had even been bolted in a room and was being stopped from purchasing essentials from a village shop. NCSC member Mahendra Bodh told this newspaper that they have received a written complaint in this regard. He also spoke about their visit to Kharsana — another village in Sehore district. Here the shamiana put up by a dalit family for their daughter’s wedding was brought down by members of the dominant community. He went on to inform that the district police authorities when asked why action had not been taken against the guilty, they were told that there are counter complaints from both sides and the police was investigating the matter. He said it appears that efforts are on to broker a compromise adding that a report about the NCSC findings would be submitted to the President within a week’s time.
Mr Bodh said that Uttar Pradesh tops in crime against dalits followed by Madhya Pradesh.