On way to gift 125 kg soap bar to Yogi, dalits from Gujarat forced to return

A group of dalit men and women, who were on their way from Gujarat to the state capital with a 125 kg of soap bar to be presented to chief minister Yogi Adityanath in protest against alleged distribution of soaps, shampoos and perfumes among the members of 'Mushar' (a dalit community) community at a village in Kushinagar district before their scheduled meeting with Adityanath, were ''forced'' to detain midway and sent back home on Monday.

In the state capital also, the police took into custody eight people, including former IPS officer and human rights activist S.R.Darapuri, when they were about to speak to the media about the detention of the dalits at the Press Club here on Monday. Police said that Darapuri and others were planning to march to the chief minister's residence to stage a demonstration. 

According to the police sources here, the group comprising 30 men and 15 women, had boarded the Sabarmati Express train to travel to Lucknow with 125 kg of soap bar on which depicted a picture of Lord Buddha to be gifted to Adityanath.

One of the members of the group said that they were forced to get off the



train at Jhansi railway station, about 300 kilometres from here, on Sunday night. The group members held a dharna and raised anti-government slogans at the station to protest their alleged detention. ''Dalits have been facing persecution in UP,'' alleged a group member.

Sources said that the dalits were kept at a rest house on Sunday night and were ''forced'' to board a Gujarat-bound train on Monday.

The report of soap and shampoo distribution evoked sharp criticism from the opposition parties, which accused the BJP of practising ''untouchability'' and sought an apology from Adityanath. 

UP's Saharanpur district had recently witnessed large scale Thakur-dalit clashes that claimed three lives. Several houses of the dalits were set ablaze in the district also. The arrest of the 'Bheem Army' , a dalit outfit, founder Chandrashekhar, has also not gone down well with the community members. 

In an apparent damage control bid and get rid of the 'anti-dalit' tag on his government, Adityanath recently had lunch with the dalits at a village in his home district of Gorakhpur.