The Delhi Congress on Wednesday staged a protest on Parliament Street against the failure of the Modi Government in preventing the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The demonstrators assembled at the Jai Singh Road on Wednesday morning and marched towards the Parliament House. Protesters were stopped by the Delhi Police and whole the area barricaded to prevent their entry.

 Addressing the gathering, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said that the 1989 act was passed in Rajiv Gandhi reign to protect the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from atrocities but the current government is trying to repeal this law. “The BJP-led central government “failed” in

properly putting up the case before the Supreme Court, resulting in the “dilution” of provision under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,” he said.

He said that the demonstration is a beginning as the party has planned to hold 25 public meeting with in ten days across the Capital and will expose the Central government over the issue. “Dalits are facing a distressful situation in the country and many families have been devastated because of the atrocities,” he said.

All India Congress Committee general-secretary P l Punia alleged that atrocities committed on Dalits have touched an “all-time high” because of Narendra Modi government’s “lackadaisical approach”.

The Centre had moved a petition in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking a review of the court’s March 20 verdict, which has put safeguards on arrest under the stringent Act. On March 20, the court had said Government servants should not be arrested

without prior sanction and private citizens too should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.