Congress silent on atrocities on Dalits in Bangladesh, trying to woo Muslims with Sambhal issue: Mayawati

Lucknow: The Congress party is "silent" over the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh, most of whom are Dalits and from weaker sections, and is raising a hue and cry over Sambhal to woo Muslim voters, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said on Saturday.

She alleged the Dalits are suffering in the neighbouring country due to the Congress' "mistake" at the time of Partition and urged the Centre to take steps to bring them back to India.

Lashing out at the principal opposition party for "not raising" the issue of atrocities on Dalits in Parliament, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said the Congress, Samajwadi Party and their allies are cut from the same cloth.

At a press conference at the party office in Lucknow on Saturday, Mayawati said that a large number of Hindus who are suffering atrocities in neighbouring Bangladesh are Dalits.

She claimed that these people were mostly from a Hindu-majority area which was forcibly handed over to Pakistan during Partition -- and is now in Bangladesh -- as a "punishment" for electing Dr B R Ambedkar to the Constituent Assembly.

They suffered due to casteist games of the Congress, the BSP chief alleged and urged the Centre to take steps to ensure their safety and security including their possible return to India.

"Now when they are being exploited, the Congress, despite being the main opposition party, is silent on their plight and is shouting 'Sambhal-Sambhal' only for Muslim votes. In this matter, Congress, SP and their supporting parties are two sides of the same coin.

"The BJP-led central government should proactively fulfil its responsibility towards the Dalits facing atrocities there... In light of this mistake by the Congress, it (the Centre) should talk to the government there to bring the Dalits back to India. Our party will be grateful to the BJP-led central government for this. Otherwise, we will understand that there is no difference between the Congress and the BJP on the issue of Dalits," she said.

Instead of raising issues of national and public interest in Parliament, the opposition parties, especially the SP and the Congress party, driven by selfish political motives are trying to woo Muslim votes on the pretext of the violence in Sambhal, she alleged.

"Not only this, but these parties are also making the Muslim community, Turks and non-Turks, fight among themselves, for which the Muslim community also has to be cautious," Mayawati said.

The BSP chief said, "What is even more saddening is that Dalit MPs are also mostly silent on the issues of Dalit oppression to please the bosses of their respective parties... whether it is the issue of Dalit oppression in the country or in Bangladesh." There have allegedly been over 200 attacks on Hindus in 50-odd districts of Bangladesh since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5.

A political slugfest erupted after violence in Sambhal on November 24 during protests against a survey of a Mughal-era mosque ordered by a court following a plea that a Hindu temple previously stood at the site.

The Congress and the SP have accused the ruling BJP of trying to create communal strife by raising temple-mosque issues. The BJP, in turn, has maintained that the opposition parties were trying to vitiate the atmosphere and those unhappy with the court order should take legal recourse.