No respect for Dalits under Modi govt, claims Mallikarjun Kharge

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Oct 9, 2025: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge charged on Wednesday that there was no respect for Dalit citizens - be it an ordinary person or someone holding a high position - under the Modi administration.

Kharge said this at a news conference, his first after being hospitalised for a pacemaker implantation.

The Congress veteran was referring to a lawyer’s attempt to throw a shoe at Chief Justice of India B R Gawai and the alleged lynching of a Valmiki (ST) man in Uttar Pradesh.

“I’m saying with sadness that the kind of reaction to this incident (involving Gawai) that came from lawyers, governments and political parties was not on a larger scale. But some progressive states, also progressive-thinking advocates and political party leaders condemned it,” Kharge said, lamenting that the incident did not evoke a large-scale outcry across India.

Kharge urged the government to take strict action against the lawyer.

Kharge also condemned the lynching in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. “It shows the extent to which law-and-order in Uttar Pradesh has deteriorated. If the man had committed a wrong, a case could have been registered and he arrested. Instead, people took the law into their hands,” he said.

Citing both incidents, Kharge said Dalit citizens “have no respect under this government.”

“We have to fight, instead of staying quiet. If a person like the Chief Justice is insulted, what will be the condition of a common man or an officer or a clerk?” Kharge said.

 “I don’t want to use this politically...such a mindset in society is being created by certain organisations. I condemn the organisations that are creating such mindsets and are spreading such ideology...no one should incite fire in society by insulting someone,” he said.

The lawyer’s ideology does not treat humans with dignity and deprives women of their position in society, Kharge said.

“This is the mindset even after 78 years of independence,” he said. “In the name of Manusmruti and Sanatana Dharma, they still want to snatch the fundamental rights of people. Such people must be punished,” he said.