Ensure status quo on SC/ST Act: Stalin

The Supreme Court had issued a slew of guidelines against arbitrary arrests under the said Act, triggering widespread protest by Dalits and others in north India. 

Though the SC verdict was one of the reasons for the protests, the Dalit upsurge was a result of constant oppression of SCs and STs during the four year tenure of the BJP which subscribes to Manu Dharma and discriminatory views, Stalin remarked, before accusing the BJP of filing the review petition in the apex court very late, like it did in the Cauvery case. 

Describing as ‘condemnable’ the attack on Dalits fighting for a just cause, which would be accepted by everyone who believes in forming an egalitarian society, Stalin asked the BJP to advance strong arguments in the case and ensure that constitutionally guaranteed legal safeguards available to Dalits were not allowed to be diluted. 

He also urged the Centre to factor in the proposition of neutral thinkers that every law would be subject to such review if the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was blunted just because it was misused in a few cases.