Athawale demands weapons for Dalits to stem atrocities

New Delhi, Nov 24 (UNI) RPI (A) President Ramdas Athawale today described the Maharashtra Government as ''incompetent'' to protect the lives of Dalits and demanded that they be provided with weapons for self-protection.

Talking to newspersons, Mr Athawale said he had raised this issue in the recently held UPA meeting in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi were also present.

He said he had expressed his anguish over the Maharashtra Government's failure to protect Dalits, though it had announced a CBI inquiry into the killing of a Dalit family at Khairlanji in Bhandara district.

Mr Athawale also demanded that there be a separate force at police stations to handle such cases.

Justifying his demand for providing weapons to Dalits, he said it would not promote violence but give them some confidence to protect themselves. The past experience had shown that those having weapons were not attacked, he added.

The RPI leader also wanted that the Atrocities Act be amended for providing more protection to the Dalits and an experts committee constituted under a retired Supreme Court judge to make an in-depth study on Dalit atrocities.

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