SC-ST Act Amended to Protect Country, Hindu Society: Madhya Pradesh BJP Leader

Indore: BJP leader Babu Singh Raghuvanshi said Sunday the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was amended to "protect the country and Hindu society".

"Our government at the Centre was not under any pressure to amend the Act. We brought amendments to protect the country and Hindu society," said Raghuvanshi, chairman of Madhya Pradesh Small Scale Industry Corporation.

"Had the amendments not been brought, foreign forces would have fomented violence in the country," he told reporters.

Asked about the claim that the Act is sometimes misused, he said, "Tell me which law is not misused. Should all laws be nullified then?"

"We respect the feelings of upper caste Hindus. That is why Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the amended Act will not be allowed to be misused," Raghuvanshi said.

The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh has witnessed protests by upper caste organisations against recent amendments in the SC-ST Act.

The Supreme Court earlier this year inserted certain safeguards in the provisions related to immediate arrest under the SC-ST Act, but the Union government, under pressure from Dalit leaders, brought in amendments to override the apex court's ruling