Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat meets BJP's Tarun Vijay in the hospital in Dehradun on Saturday, May 21, 2016. (PTI photo)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today met BJP lawmaker Tarun Vijay, who was attacked while coming out of a temple with some Dalit leaders, and said such type of incidents would not be tolerated in the state.
"Such incidents won't be tolerated in the state. Officials have been instructed to take stringent action against those responsible," Mr Rawat said.
"This is unfortunate that this type of incident is happening here. We will fight against this type of tendency," he said.
"I strongly condemn incidents like these. I have ordered Garhwal Commissioner to look into the incident. The District Magistrate and SSP have been ordered to collect information about the incident," the chief minister said, adding nobody can be barred from entering any temple in the state.
The government is committed to ensure that there is no recurrence of the incident, he said after meeting the Rajya Sabha member at a private hospital in Dehradun.
After meeting Mr Vijay, Mr Rawat convened a high-level meeting with senior officials including state Home Minister Pritam Singh, Principal Secretary (Home) Umakant Panwar, DGP MA Ganapati, IGP Sanjay Gunjyal, District Collector Ravinath Raman, and Senior Superintendent of Police Sadanand Date.
He directed the officials to arrest the guilty as soon as possible.
Meanhile, Governor KK Paul also met the BJP lawmaker in hospital and expressed concern over the incident.
Terming the occurrence "condemnable" and "worrying", he asked the chief minister to take action against those responsible and ensure the safety of the Dalit community.
In a Raj Bhavan release, the governor attributed the attack to the state administration's "carelessness" and weak security apparatus. He expressed surprise that no arrests had been made so far.
Mr Vijay requested the governor and the chief minister to create an atmosphere of social harmony in the state so that Dalits could enter temples in a normal manner.
Meanwhile, the BJP attacked the ruling dispensation over the law and order situation with its leaders alleging that no caution was taken in the case.
"No proper caution was taken even after gauging the sensitivity of the issue. The state of law and order can be understood from this incident," said Munna Singh Chauhan, BJP spokesperson.
Mr Vijay was yesterday attacked by a mob and his car vandalised after he came out of Silgur Devta temple with Dalit leaders in Chakrata.
The mob attacked Mr Vijay and the Dalit leader apparently for visiting the temple where entrance of persons belonging to backward castes is prohibited.