Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday  in the wake of the ‘Bharat bandh’ called by several Dalit organisations to protest against the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The Congress leader took to Twitter and wrote that keeping Dalits on lowest priority in society is in the DNA of RSS and BJP. Dalts have taken to streets today to demand protection of their rights from the Narendra Modi-led government. He added that, “we salute the spirit” of people who have taken to the streets.

दलितों को भारतीय समाज के सबसे निचले पायदान पर रखना RSS/BJP के DNA में है। जो इस सोच को चुनौती देता है उसे वे हिंसा से दबाते हैं।

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हजारों दलित भाई-बहन आज सड़कों पर उतरकर मोदी सरकार से अपने अधिकारों की रक्षा की माँग कर रहे हैं।

हम उनको सलाम करते हैं।#BharatBandh

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 2, 2018

The Central government filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on Monday regarding its recent order of diluting certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad confirmed that the Centre has filed the petition after instructing his Ministry officials “to examine the desirability of filing a review petition in the case.”

“I wish to convey that today we’ve filed a petition on the judgement by Supreme Court on the SC/ST act,” Prasad said.

“We have filed a comprehensive review petition which will be presented before the court by the senior lawyers of the government,” he added.

The Supreme Court had on March 20 diluted the provisions of the SC and the ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, in a bid to protect honest public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.

Dalit organisations, including the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, and some political parties fear this dilution of the provisions might lead to increase in violence against Dalits.

According to the media reports, the protest held by the dalits have turned violent at various places such as Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Protesters in Meerut torched a police outpost.

Angry protesters have reportedly blocked railway tracks at many places in Bihar. With posters, banners and flags, supporters of the Bhim Army and other Dalit organisations halted over a dozen long-distance trains, as a result of which passengers were stranded at Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Bhagalpur, Ara, Darbhanga, Araria, Nalanda and Hajipur railway stations.

In the wake of the ‘Bharat Bandh’, Punjab, which has the largest share of Dalits in its total population across the country, has been put on high alert with hundred of security personnel deployed ahead of a protest. Internet services in the state have been suspended since 5 pm on Sunday and will continue till 11 pm today. The security has been stepped up in Punjab, particularly in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur.