Rahul Gandhi Demands FIR Over Haldwani Purification Ritual

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanded on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi order the immediate registration of an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against individuals who performed a 'shuddhikaran' (purification) ritual in Uttarakhand. The ritual took place on August 10 at the Ramlila ground in Haldwani, two days after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit leader, addressed a public rally there on August 8.

Gandhi characterized the act as a criminal offense and a form of illegal untouchability, framing the incident as an ideological conflict between the Indian Constitution and the mindset of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He accused the BJP-RSS of attempting to portray Dalits as unclean and criticized the BJP's Uttarakhand state leadership for allegedly defending the ritual.

Mallikarjun Kharge also raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, demanding legal action under the Untouchability Act. In response, Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Khajan Das rejected the allegations, stating that the BJP had no involvement in the ritual. Das asserted that if an organization conducted a havan, it was their own affair, and accused the Indian National Congress of spreading misinformation to mislead the Dalit community.