Normal life was thrown out of gear in more than 10 states, most of them BJP-ruled, with widespread violence during the protests called by Dalit organisations on Monday with poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bearing the maximum brunt.
Fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan on Tuesday as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from Monday’s nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.
While the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay its recent order on the SC/ST Act, which had triggered the ‘Bharat Bandh’ call by Dalit organisations that alleged the move diluted their constitutional rights, the government maintained that it was not responsible for any dilution and that it was fully committed to protecting the interests of the backward communities.
