Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram broke down on Tuesday as he spoke about a lawyer having attempted to throw a shoe at Chief Justice of India BR Gavai. “This pain is felt by all Dalits,” said Ram, who is a Dalit too.
Justice Gavai is only the second second from the historically oppressed caste group, the Dalits, to have become CJI, and the first Buddhist.
“This is an attack on the Supreme Court… (and) an insult to millions of Dalits,” he further said, pausing as tears filled his eyes.
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“We know how many tragedies and how much pain one has to bear, for a long time, before reaching such heights in society. Even after that, when society does not accept it, you feel insulted even in the confines of your home,” Rajesh Ram said at a press meet in Patna.
“Being a Dalit, there can not be any more profound feeling,” he said, speaking in Hindi. “We have always had endure discrimination, even within legislative houses, to this day,” he added.
He broke down mid-sentence as he was saying: “We have faced this on the streets every day, but now, with a very heavy heart…”
He paused, lips quivering, then said, “This pain is felt by all those Dalits who feel the impact of the attack on Gavai saab.”
There could “no bigger example than this” of Dalits being insulted, he added.
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He also said it was “only thanks to the Constitution made by Baba Saheb (BR Ambedkar)” that he was even in a position to share his thoughts at a press conference.
Earlier in the day, 71-year-old Delhi lawyer Rakesh Kishore, the lawyer who tried to attack the CJI, said he had no remorse. The CJI has chosen not to press charges, so Kishore is not facing any legal case and was speaking at his home.
He accused CJI Gavai and the Supreme Court at large of being “against the interests of the Sanatan Dharma”.
He continued to justify his act by citing some comments made by the CJI during a hearing last month of a case over restoring a Hindu idol at a temple in Khajuraho. The CJI had later clarified that he meant no disrespect.
Rakesh Kishore was also asked if the CJI’s caste was a factor why he wanted to attack him.
“My name is Dr Rakesh Kishore. Can someone tell my caste? Maybe I am a Dalit too.”
Kishore did not specify his own caste, but said about the CJI: “He is not a Dalit. He was a Sanatani Hindu first. He then renounced his faith and followed Buddhism. If he feels that he has come out of Hinduism after following Buddhism, how is he still a Dalit?”
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