Jaipur: A Congress MLA in Rajasthan resigned from his Assembly seat over the death of a 9-year-old Dalit student in the Jalore district.
Panachand Meghwal, the MLA from the Atru assembly seat in Baran district, said that he was hurt by the Jalore incident and added that Dalits and deprived communities are being subjected to constant atrocities and torture.
“When we fail to protect the rights of our community…we have no right to remain on the post. After listening to my inner voice, I resign from the post of the MLA, so that I can serve the community without any position," the MLA said in his resignation letter.
“I am hurt looking at the atrocities. I cannot express my pain in words, the way my community is being tortured. Dalits are being killed for drinking water from a pot, sporting a moustache or riding a mare during a wedding. The judicial process is stalled and case files are passed from one table to the other. Cases of atrocities against Dalits are on the rise in the last few years. It seems there is no one to protect the rights of Dalits given by the Constitution," he said.
“In most of the cases lodged by Dalits, the police submit the final report. Many times, I have raised such cases in the state assembly but no action was taken by the police," Meghwal rued.
In the meantime, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and other ministers of the state reached Jalore on Tuesday to meet the family of the Dalit boy. Senior cabinet ministers and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra have met with the parents of the boy.
“The death of a student due to assault by a teacher in a private school in Jalore is a shocking incident. We have to end these evils prevalent in society,” said Pilot to the media.
"We have to put an end to incidents like Jalore. We have to assure the people of Dalit society that we stand with them," he added.
Notably, 9-year-old Indra Kumar Meghwal died on Saturday (August 13) after he was allegedly beaten up by the teacher for touching a water pot in the school. The accused teacher, Chail Singh (40) has been arrested.
