SC-ST MPs of Congress decide to petition president on 'purification' row

New Delhi: Thirty-two Congress MPs from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities on Monday raised the "purification" incident in Uttarakhand's Haldwani following a rally addressed by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and decided to hand over a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu.

The MPs of the opposition party assembled at its Indira Bhawan headquarters here and highlighted that it was a grave matter concerning the dignity and self-respect of the SC-ST communities.

A political row erupted after some individuals allegedly performed a "purification yajna" at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on August 11, following a public meeting addressed by Kharge there on August 8.


Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had criticised the incident and demanded the registration of an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against those responsible for organising the "purification" ceremony.

The MPs of the opposition party said the incident was a direct assault on the constitutional values of equality, dignity and the abolition of untouchability.

The meeting of the MPs deliberated on the future course of action and finalised a memorandum to be submitted to the president, seeking her intervention and appropriate action.

Later, addressing the media, Lok Sabha MP from Telangana Mallu Ravi said 32 MPs from SC-ST communities, along with the Congress's national coordinator (SC, ST, OBC and Minority Department) K Raju and president of the department Rajendra Pal Gautam, had met at the Indira Bhawan.

"We discussed the shocking purification incident in Haldwani following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's rally. We have decided to form a parliamentary forum to fight this at all levels. We will be submitting a representation to the president of India on Tuesday," Ravi said.

Raju said the MPs have decided that there should be an SC-ST forum to discuss issues related to the communities.

"We will meet to decide the strategy for raising the issues of SC-STs in Parliament," he said.