PM Narendra Modi's appeal falls on deaf ears; 20 Dalits thrashed in Gujarat's Una, 8 seriously injured

Ahmedabad: It seems Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to stop atrocities against Dalits have fallen on deaf ears.

Twenty Dalits were attacked by a crowd at Samter village near Una in Gujarat, while they were returning home after attending a protest rally on Monday evening.

The victims were coming back after attending a Dalit Sammelan in Una town of Gir Somnath district when the attack happened.

Out of twenty, 8 people were seriously injured.

While the members of the community allege that police didn't take any action against the culprits, the officials have maintained that the cops lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd and resorted to mild lathi-charge.

The victims also claimed that the attackers were residents of Samter village, who wanted to "avenge" the arrest of 12 persons in connection with last month's Una Dalit flogging case.

The 20 Dalits hailing from Bhavnagar district had gone to Una to participate in a flag hoisting event in which Jawaharlal Nehru University student Kanhaiya Kumar was present.

Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula and Balu Sarvaiya, father of one of the victims of Una Dalit flogging incident, hoisted the national flag at the event.

Last month, seven Dalits had been brutally beaten up by cow vigilantes in Mota Samadhiyala village.

Meanwhile, political parties have hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party for failing to protect the community.

Congress said that by just changing the chief minister in Gujarat won't stop atrocities against the Dalits. Ruling party's mindset needs to be changed, the grand old party said.

Janata Dal (United) took pot shots at the BJP and RSS saying, both are only interested in lip-service.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said discrimination against Dalits should stop and the onus for this lay on everyone.

"Stop attacking my Dalit brethren. If you have to shoot, shoot me, but not my Dalit brothers. This game should stop," he had said.