-DGP should release a white paper on action taken
-AP police defying NCSC in Dalit cases
-No action despite NCSC enquiries in attacks on Dalits: Varla
AMARAVATI: TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah on Monday urged the DGP of AP to release a white paper on the action taken against the perpetrators of all the attacks and atrocities on the Dalit sections in the State in the past three years.
In a letter to the DGP here, Ramaiah deplored that no action has been taken against the perpetrators in any of the cases involving attacks on Dalits. The AP police were not taking the required action and they were defying even the inquiries launched by the national level institutions.
Expressing great concern, the TDP leader: “I am writing this letter with a heavy heart after observing continuous and consistent attacks against the lives, property and dignity of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh. In spite of repeated inquiries from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) with regard to the attacks and harassment of Dalits, there appears to be no action from the police.”
Ramaiah said that Chairperson of AP State SC Commission Victor Prasad too lamented about the lack of action from police. Sadly, in many of the cases, the police are also involved in attacks against lives, property and self-respect of Dalits. As there was no response from the police, the High Court has assigned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inquire into the harassment of Dr. Sudhakar in Visakhapatnam.
The TDP leader said Dr. Sudhakar was widely believed to have succumbed to harassment meted out to him. Similarly, I. Varaprasad was tonsured in the police station itself in order to humiliate him. However, there was no proper action against the culprits. Kiran from Chirala was beaten to death for not wearing a face mask during the Covid pandemic lockdown. Again no proper action was taken against the culprits and only an eyewash action was initiated in all the cases.
Ramaiah said the suspicious death of Om Pratap in Chittoor district was not properly investigated. He died mysteriously after his video, abusing the Chief Minister, went viral on social media. As there has been no proper and coherent action against the attacks on Dalits, it is widely believed that the police are operating hand in glove with the ruling YSRCP leaders.
The TDP leader termed it as appalling that the AP State SC Commission Chairperson also resented the police inaction and he lamented about the continuous attacks on Dalits. Also the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in Criminal Petition Nos. 5146 and 5147 of 2020 directed the State Government to initiate action against the erring police officials for improper arrest and filing of cases against Dalits of Amaravati Capital City.
Ramaiah said such open comments by the Chairperson of AP State SC Commission and the Hon’ble High Court of Andhra Pradesh against police were unheard of. They only pointed to the inaction of the police in the context of attacks against Dalits.
The TDP leader said that in this backdrop, the Director General of Police (DGP) should review all the cases of atrocities against Dalits and release a white paper on the action
taken by the police against the culprits to bestow confidence among the Dalits. A comprehensive inquiry should be taken up on all the attacks against Dalits since June 2019. Only a proper inquiry and action by the police would help in restoring the dignity of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh.
