Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi yesterday visited the home of a Dalit man in Una whose four sons were brutally flogged on July 11 for skinning a dead cow and announced an assistance of Rs500,000 for the family.
Gandhi, who flew in to Gujarat in the morning, drove straight to the home of Babubhai Sarvaiya in Samadhiyala village of Una and spent 40 minutes with the family. He also had tea with them.
He was accompanied by Gurudas Kamat, who is in charge of the party’s affairs in Gujarat, state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki and other party leaders as well as former federal minister and Dalit leader Kumari Selja.
Scores of people thronged Samadhiyala village in Una of Gir-Somnath district as the Congress leader visited.
Even as he freely interacted with them, Gandhi asked Jitu Sarvaiya, Babubhai’s nephew, if it was the first time or they had been suffering caste discrimination for long.
“There was nothing new in this, this is quite normal,” Jitu Sarvaiya said.
Jitu, 20, is an engineering student and the only educated member of the family. He said since there were no work avenues, they were engaged in the business of skinning dead animals for the tanneries.
Jitu said: “We don’t want money, but we wish support for sustenance and livelihood. We clear the dirt of the society and this is what we are given in return by the society.”
Gandhi sat with the family and held Babubhai Sarvaiya’s hand as they all became emotional. The Congress leader shared tea with the Dalit family.
“In Mota Samadhiyala, Una to meet the family members of the Dalit youths who were so brutally assaulted. Balu Bhai, the father of the Dalit youths was also beaten up mercilessly,” Gandhi tweeted on his official account. The tweet was accompanied by a photo showing Gandhi interacting with the family members of a Dalit youth.