Congress president Rahul Gandhi slammed the RSS and the BJP for the plight of the Dalits and said that he saluted “brothers and sisters” from the community who are protesting to demand protection of their rights from the Modi government.

Several Dalit organisations called for a nation-wide shutdown against the dilution of arrest provisions under the SC/ST Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court.

Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to express his sentiments and stated, “It is in the DNA of the RSS/BJP to keep Dalits at the lowest level in Indian society. Any one who challenges this thought is crushed with violence. Our Dalit brothers and sisters are today on the streets demanding protection of their rights from the Modi Government. We salute them.”