By IANS,
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday sought to refute Union Social Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik’s charge about the state leading the way in atrocities on Dalits, arguing this could be because it was the country’s most populous state.
Reacting sharply to Wasnik’s remark in an interaction with the media Friday, press release issued by an official spokesman on behalf of the chief minister here termed the allegations “baseless, false, motivated and misleading”.
“It is shocking to note that a union minister has not cared to understand facts before blurting out a statement with the sole intent of tarnishing the image of the Bahujan Samaj Party Party (BSP) government in the state,” the release said.
“The minister does not seem to realise that the figures of crimes against dalits were bound to be higher in Uttar Pradesh simply because it happens to be the country’s most populous state. Therefore cases of Dalit harassment needed to be seen in that light,” it said.
The spokesman contended that the state government was taking adequate steps to prevent crimes against Dalits. “The Mayawati government was committed to the cause of Dalits and it had ensured that crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were brought down,” he said, urging Wasnik to look into National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports before making any sweeping remark against the Uttar Pradesh government.
Not very long ago, National Commission for Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes chairman P.L. Punia had flayed the Mayawati government on the same issue. Slamming Punia, a former Indian Administrative Service officer who was at one time her close confidante, Mayawati had accused him of “concocting figures”.
Wasnik, during his visit, was prevented by the state government from addressing a press conference in the lounge of the VVIP guest house here. Even though he was staying in the same guest house, officials curtly told Wasnik that he could not be permitted to address the media in the guest house lounge and he was compelled to step out into the driveway to briefly speak to the press.