New Delhi : Congress on Wednesday condemned the killing of a man by a mob in Raebareli, terming the incident as "a crime against the Dalit community." Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge shared the party's statement on X. The statement emphasised the increasing crime against the Dalits, minorities and the poor people in the country.
"Our country has a Constitution that recognises every individual with a sense of equality. There is a law that grants equal status to the safety, rights, and expression of every citizen. What happened in Raebareli is a grave crime against the Constitution of this country. It is a crime against the Dalit community and a stain on this nation and society," Congress said in a statement.
"The number of crimes against Dalits, minorities, and the poor in the country has increased beyond limits. This violence disproportionately affects those who are deprived, marginalised, and lack adequate representation or participation," the party added.
The statement comes after a group of people allegedly killed a Dalit man, "mistaking him for a thief" in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli. Police have arrested five people and efforts are underway to apprehend the remaining accused, according to the Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP Sanjeev Kumar Sinha.
The statement flagged other similar incidents of violence, saying that these incidents are a mirror reflecting the growing "insensitivity" of the government against marginalised communities. "Be it the crimes against women in Hathras and Unnao, the murder of Hariom in Raebareli, or earlier, the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula, the inhuman incident of a leader urinating on a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh, the brutal beating of Dalits in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, or the murders of Pehlu Khan in Haryana and Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh--every incident is a mirror reflecting the growing insensitivity of our society, administration, and ruling powers," Since 2014, trends like mob lynching, bulldozer injustice, and mob rule have become the terrifying hallmarks of our times. Violence cannot be a hallmark of any civilised society, and what happened to Hariom is a profound question mark on our collective morality," Congress added.
Congress said that such incidents have no place in Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi's India and expressed the party's commitment to empower the deprived and weaker sections of society. "The India of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar's dreams and Mahatma Gandhi's 'Vaishnav Jan...' is an India of social justice, equality, and compassion, where there is no place for such crimes. Humanity is the only path forward. The Congress Party is committed to empowering the deprived and weaker sections of society. We call upon citizens to unite against this injustice. This fight must continue until the rights and dignity of every Indian's life are fully protected," Congress said.