Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has finally talked about the Dalit tonsure case in the State. In a high level meeting with the officials, he said it was not correct that a person belonging to the weaker sections was treated without humanity. The CM told the officials his Government was taking such incidents very seriously. This was why the Government was not hesitating to put the policemen concerned in jail. This never happened in the past.

Mr. Jagan Reddy pointed out that his Government was giving great respect to the Dalit weaker sections. The Home Minister was a Dalit herself while the Director General of Police was an ST. Given the situation, incidents like the Sitanagaram tonsure incident in East Godavari should not have taken place. Hence, necessary orientation classes should be held for the police constables, ASIs and SIs. They should be taught to show humanity to the people and there should be no repetition of incidents like the tonsure case.

The Chief Minister told the officials that nobody should be treated as above law. This would be applicable to the Ministers, MLAs and the ruling party leaders. Strongest possible action should be taken to ensure that nobody would indulge in corruption anywhere in the State.

It may be recalled that recently, tonsure victim Vara Prasad wrote to the President seeking permission to join Naxalites as AP Government failed to ensure justice to him. The President responded and directly asked an AP official to submit a report on this. In this wake, the CM’s latest comments assumed a lot of significance.