SAD-BSP alliance seeks action against Congress MP for 'insulting' Dalits

The complaint was submitted to the police commissioner by a delegation of the SAD, BSP

The SAD-BSP alliance submitted a complaint against Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu to the Ludhiana police commissioner on Thursday and demanded his immediate arrest for allegedly passing "casteist" remarks against the Dalit community.

The complaint was submitted to the police commissioner by a delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Senior leaders Charanjit Singh Atwal and Gulzar Singh Ranike said the delegation demanded that a case should be registered against Bittu for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Scheduled Caste community.

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They said the delegation brought it to the notice of the police commissioner that "conclusive evidence" was already available against Bittu in the public realm and that the police should not try to save him simply because he belongs to the Congress, the ruling party in Punjab.

Senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said it was clear that Bittu had "deliberately slandered" the Dalit community to please his political masters by questioning why the "holy seats" of Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib were given to the BSP under its alliance with the SAD.

"Bittu has effectively stated that holy seats have been given to unholy persons. This is intolerable as it goes against the Constitution, which guarantees equality to all, and is also against Sikh ethos and culture," he said in a statement.

Bittu had earlier represented the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency in Parliament and knew about the history of the area, Cheema said.

"He knows that it was at Anandpur Sahib that Sri Guru Gobind Singh chose persons from the oppressed sections of the society to create a casteless and classless society. It was also at Anandpur Sahib that the Guru made the proclamation 'Rangretta Guru ke beta' when the severed head of Guru Tegh Bahadur was presented to him by Bhai Jaita.

"Bittu also knows that it was at Chamkaur Sahib that Guru Sahib gifted his 'kalgi' to the Dalit community. In the light of these facts, it is clear that Bittu deliberately insulted the sentiments of the Dalit community," he said.

BSP leaders Gurmail GK and Jeet Ram Basra also condemned the Congress MP for his remarks.

The opposition parties in Punjab are slamming Bittu, an MP from Ludhiana, for allegedly insulting the Dalits by saying the SAD left "pious seats" like Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib to its ally BSP.

He made the comments in a video posted on his Facebook page after the SAD and the BSP stitched an alliance last week for next year's state Assembly polls.