Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have registered a sharp rise in the country, according to the latest report from the National Crime Records Bureau. Madhya Pradesh had recorded a total of 4,753 such cases in 2018, which rose to 5,300 in 2019. However, in 2020, the figure shot up to 6,899, NCRB data shows. This is a rise of around 30%. And the numbers have sparked a blame game between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress in the state.
Overall the rate of crimes against SCs remained a whopping 60.8%, but, in a positive development, the rate of filing of chargesheets was at 99.3% last year. The figure was 98.9% in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which recorded a slight dip in crimes against Scheduled Castes. As against the year 2019 when the state saw 341 cases in the category, the year 2020 saw 316.
The atrocities against the Scheduled Tribes, who comprise around 22% of the population in Madhya Pradesh, also rose by around 25%. The NCRB data shows that the state recorded a total of 2,401 cases (a jump of 24.92%) of crimes against tribal people, up from 1,922 in 2019 and 1,868 in 2018. The overall crime rate against STs remained at 15.7%, and the rate of filing of chargesheets in such cases was 99.6%.
The data comes at a time when both the BJP and Congress are jostling to woo both communities in the run-up to upcoming bypolls and in preparations for assembly elections in 2023.
While Other Backward Classes (OBCs) constitute 50.09% of the state’s population, SCs and STs together form around 37%.
This is perhaps the reason why the BJP and Congress are busy attacking each other over crimes against Dalits and tribals.
Led by Kamal Nath, the Congress took out an Adivasi Adhikar Yatra in tribal-dominated areas this month while pointing at atrocities against tribals and highlighting five murders in a Dalit family in Dewas as signs of rising crimes against the communities. Reacting to the NCRB data, Nath said that MP tops the chart in terms of ST atrocities with a 20% rise in cases. He also claimed that the state is the most unsafe for children as per the report.
Since the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government came to power, crimes against Dalits and tribals have surged, he added, alleging that criminals now have no fear of the law.
BJP state head VD Sharma said Nath has no right to speak on these matters as his government’s record was pathetic. When he was the chief minister, a Dalit man was set on fire and he was only referred to a hospital after the SC Commission intervened, claimed Sharma, adding that two children were abducted and brutally murdered in Chitrakoot under Nath’s rule and two farmers were beaten to death in Dhar.
“It’s all a bundle of lies from the Congress party. Each and every section is safe under the BJP government,” he added.
The BJP is also marking the martyrdom day of tribal king Shankar Shah in a glittering ceremony in Jabalpur on Saturday. The event will be attended by home minister Amit Shah. Also, Gaurav Diwas, dedicated to tribal heroes, will be celebrated on November 15.
The BJP recently held an SC cell meeting in Bhopal, vowing to ensure the welfare of Dalits. Sharma had attended a meeting of the ST cell state executive in Jabalpur on Thursday.
State home minister Narottam Mishra said on the NCRB data that the state registers crimes and doesn’t believe in hiding things. “MP is the first state where you can lodge an FIR from your mobile phone,” said Mishra, referring to the e-FIR facility offered by the state police recently.
“It’s a reflection of the law and order deterioration witnessed under the Congress government,” medical education minister Vishwas Sarang said. “We have reined in the mafia and also cracked down on crimes against women.”
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