Bharath Bandh: Violence Erupts At Several Places, 1 Killed in MP

Bhopal: One person was killed in Madhya Pradesh's Morena on Monday as Dalit protests turned violent, forcing the authorities to impose curfew in many places, police said.

The protests are part of a 'Bharat bandh' called by Dalit organisations against a Supreme Court order diluting The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. Violence was reported in the Gwalior-Chambal region and Bhind. At one place two groups clashed and pelted each other with stones while several vehicles were set on fire.

Chambal Inspector General of Police Santosh Singh told IANS: "Curfew has been imposed in Morena city and five towns of Bhind. One person has died." Major cities like Bhopal and Indore saw violence, with trains stopped at many places. (IANS)

Rajnath Singh Calls For Peace

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said the Centre has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against "dilution" of the SC/ST Act, as he appealed the political parties to ensure that no communal violence takes place in the country in the backdrop of widespread protests over the issue.

He also dismissed the allegations as "baseless" that the NDA government was against the upliftment of the backward community. "It is the moral responsibility of the political parties to ensure that no caste or communal violence takes place anywhere," Singh told reporters here.

The Supreme Court had on March 20 "diluted" the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, ruling that the government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, be arrested only after an inquiry under the law. (PTI)

Incidents Of Stone Pelting in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Incidents of stone pelting on buses were reported here in north Maharashtra today as several Dalit organisations expresses their concerns over the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The Dalit groups had called for a Bharat Bandh today demanding restoration of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in its original form. "Protesters pelted stones on four state transport buses, including the Shahada-Padsalda bus, at Shahada in Nandurbar district," a police official told PTI. (PTI)

Uttar Pradesh: Buses Torched

Lucknow: Protesters torched two buses and pelted stones on vehicles in several parts of Uttar Pradesh during the "Bharat Bandh' called by Dalit groups today against the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people not to vitiate law and order and asserted that his government "is serious towards the development and progress of dalits". Protests turned violent in several districts including Agra, Hapur, Meerut in West UP and Azamgarh .

In Azamgarh, angry protesters pelted stones on buses on Gorakhpur-Azamgarh highway in Sagdi area damaging their widow panes, police said. They also set afire two roadways buses injuring some passengers. (PTI)

Violent Protests In Rajasthan

Jaipur: Nearly 30 people were detained as Dalit groups protesting against the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act today blocked rail and road traffic and vandalised public property, including a train, in several parts of Rajasthan, disrupting normal life in the state.

Protestors gathered at major roads in the state capital lead to traffic snarls, while incidents of stone pelting and damage to public property were also reported, police said. Nearly 30 people -- 20 from Ajmer and 10 from Jaipur -- were detained after protestors damaged public property, they said. (PTI)

Bandh Affects Normal Life In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Normal life was partially affected in several parts of Odisha today as dalit outfits staged protests and strike as part of a countrywide agitation against the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act.

Vehicular movement was affected in several areas including Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Malkangiri, Sambalpur and other tribal-dominated districts, police said. Buses also remained off the roads in Biramitrapur, Malkangiri, Kalahandi and Bolangir. Shops and business establishments remained shut in several areas of tribal-dominated Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Sundargarh and Balangir districts in response to the 'Bharat bandh' call, they said. (PTI)

Train services disrupted in Delhi

New Delhi: Protesters squatted on tracks in several places outside Delhi, stopping trains, including the Dehradun Express and the Ranchi Rajdhani, to enforce an all India shutdown against the dilution of the SC/ST Act, officials said today.

Services were disrupted when a mob arrived at the Ghaziabad yard around 10 am today, Northern Railway officials said. Many trains, such as Saptakranti Express, Utkal Express and the Bhubaneswar and Ranchi Rajdhani as well as the Kanpur Shatabdi, were stopped ahead of Ghaziabad in Meerut and Modinagar, officials said.

A mob of about 2,000 people disrupted trains at the Hapur station as well, disrupting the movement of many goods trains, they added. (PTI)