Shillong, Feb 17: The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has urged the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind to protect the fundamental rights of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes.

In a letter submitted through the Governor of Meghalaya, Tathagata Roy on Monday, MPCC president Celestine Lyngdoh said, any elected government, be it the BJP government in Uttarakhand or the BJP government at the Centre, should be deeply ashamed at the brazen attack on the constitution and also the fundamental rights of SC/ST/OBCs in government jobs.

He said, instead the present Union government seems to be hell bent upon misleading the parliament and also the people of India.

Lyngdoh said it is a recorded fact that the BJP government in Uttarakhand filed an appeal against a judgment which would have allowed them to grant reservations in promotions.

“It is also a fact that the BJP government went beyond the subject matter of the appeal and argued that there is no fundamental right or constitutional duty to give reservations either in appointments or promotions,” he said.

“This is not the first time such a dilution has been attempted by the BJP in government. Since they have come to power at the Centre, there has been an abolition of the SC/ST sub-plan,” he said.

The Congress leader further said that there was also an attempt to dilute the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Attrocities) Act, 1989 which the BJP government was compelled to remedy (by way of amendment recently) following nationwide protests.

He said over 43,000 cases of atrocities were reported against our brothers and sisters belonging to the Dalit community in just 2017 as per the NCRB data.

Nearly 25 per cent of all such cases were reported to have occurred from the BJP ruled state of Uttar Pradesh. “This is the latest in a series of attacks on the fundamental rights and existence of our fellow citizens who belong to these protected castes and tribes,” he said while calling upon the President to take all necessary steps to ensure that the fundamental right of reservation in government jobs is secured and protected.