Mamata Banerjee marches against Hathras incident

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march in Kolkata against the mishandling of the gang rape and death of a 20-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. After the march, she targeted the BJP governments in UP and the Centre for “torturing Dalits, minority communities and farmers”. She said protest rallies will continue in the state amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

“Covid is a pandemic, but the biggest pandemic is the BJP. It is a pandemic of atrocities and I will support every effort to stop it. What do you (BJP) think, your police will not let us meet the family? I can meet the family tomorrow, and you won’t even know. The daughter of Hathras is our daughter. If we are to brighten the country’s future, we have to stand beside Dalits and minority communities… Today, I am not a Hindu, I am a Dalit,” she said.

Ms Banerjee addressed a rally, her first since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in March, after a team of Trinamool Congress leaders were barred from entering Hathras to meet the victim’s family on Friday.

Ms Banerjee also accused the BJP of talking big before elections. “During elections, the BJP leaders go to a Dalit house, get food from outside, eat it and claim they have eaten at a Dalit home. After elections, they will torture Dalits, thrash them,” she said.

Stating that there was no democracy in the country under the BJP, but a “dictatorship” Ms Banerjee said India was heading towards a “Presidential form of governance”.

“BJP is not the future of the country. They will be defeated,” she said, adding that the BJP stirs nationalistic sentiments for electoral gain.