Bengaluru: Congress workers took out a protest march in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi on Sunday, August 16, against the purification ritual performed in Haldwani, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held a public meeting.
The Kalaburagi District Congress Committee organised the demonstration. Party workers gathered at the district Congress office on Sedam Road and marched towards Annapurna Cross, raising slogans against the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and alleged communal and casteist practices.
The protesters objected to the reported cleaning and purification of the venue following Kharge’s visit, terming it an insult to Dalits and a reflection of continuing caste discrimination.
Several protesters carried placards highlighting equality and constitutional principles. Messages included “Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan,” “Unity over hatred,” “Dalit discrimination is anti-national” and “Purify the mind before purifying the soil.”
Protestors burn tyres as part of demonstration
The protesters also questioned whether caste discrimination had truly disappeared 80 years after Independence. They said no individual should be considered ‘impure’ because of their caste and argued that such practices undermine the principles of equality and dignity guaranteed by the Constitution.
The protestors burnt tyres as part of the demonstration and raised slogans demanding an end to caste-based discrimination and communal politics.
Speaking to the gathering, District Congress Committee president and MLC Jagadev Guttedar, MLA Allamaprabhu Patil and MLC Tippannappa Kamaknur criticised the alleged incident and accused communal forces of attempting to divide society along caste and religious lines.
The leaders said the Congress would continue to oppose discrimination and defend constitutional values. They called upon people to reject hatred and work towards social harmony, equality and fraternity.
