Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi direct the filing of an FIR against those who carried out the alleged “shuddikaran” or purification of a ground in Haldwani after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public meeting there.
Gandhi said the incident reflected a larger ideological battle between the Constitution and what he described as the views of the RSS-BJP. He demanded that action be taken under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, asserting that Kharge must receive justice.
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“Our demand is that an FIR should be lodged at the earliest against those who performed shuddikaran,” Gandhi said at a press conference. He also questioned Prime Minister Modi’s silence, saying the BJP’s Uttarakhand chief had publicly supported the purification.
Gandhi played a video at the press conference in which the BJP’s Uttarakhand chief was seen defending the act. “It is a reflection of the PM’s ideology that he is not saying anything,” Gandhi alleged, adding that justifying such an act was illegal.
The Congress leader said Kharge had addressed a rally at the Ramlila ground on August 8, while the alleged purification was carried out by BJP-RSS workers on August 10. He questioned why, despite the passage of several days, no case had been registered under the SC/ST Act.
Gandhi also linked the incident to what he described as wider discrimination faced by Dalits across the country. He cited allegations of Dalit children being made to clean toilets, being denied access to common sources of water and facing discriminatory treatment at tea shops and other public places.
“Shuddikaran is another name for untouchability,” Gandhi said, arguing that such practices were prohibited by the Constitution.
He further referred to an alleged purification ritual following Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s visit to a temple, using it to highlight what he described as continuing caste discrimination.
The Leader of the Opposition also clarified remarks made during the Congress Working Committee meeting on August 19, where Kharge had reportedly expressed disappointment that some party leaders had not supported him on the issue. Gandhi said Kharge had not claimed that the “vast majority” of Congress leaders had failed to support him.
Speaking about his conversation with Kharge, Gandhi stressed that the issue went beyond the Congress president himself.
“This is not the issue of Kharge alone. This is an issue of all Dalits in Hindustan,” he said, calling the Haldwani incident merely the “tip of the iceberg”.
Gandhi said that if such an incident could happen to a senior political leader and Congress president, the situation faced by ordinary Dalits, particularly children, could be even more serious.
“He is our president and he must get justice today or tomorrow,” Gandhi said, reiterating his demand for an FIR and action under the SC/ST Act.
