News Analysis India

Tag: Rajendra Pal Gautam

  • Religious conversion event: Delhi Police to question ex-minister Gautam on Tuesday

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police will question former minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Tuesday over his presence at a religious conversion event where Hindu deities were allegedly denounced, senior officials said.

    He has been issued a notice to appear for questioning along with some others, a senior police official said.

    The former minister will be questioned about his presence in the event and details will be sought from him regarding what actually happened there, he said.

    Gautam resigned from his post on Sunday amid a controversy over his presence at the religious conversion event.

    The BJP had used the issue to attack AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal during the election campaigning in Gujarat and accused him of being “anti-Hindu”.

    In a letter shared on Twitter, Gautam said he attended the event in his personal capacity and it had nothing to do with his party or the ministry.

    He lashed out at the BJP for targeting Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alleging the saffron party was doing “dirty politics” on the issue.

    Gautam, who was the Minister for Social Welfare, SC and ST, Registrar of Co-operative Societies and Gurudwara Elections, said he is resigning as minister as he does not want his leader or AAP to be in trouble because of him.

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police will question former minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Tuesday over his presence at a religious conversion event where Hindu deities were allegedly denounced, senior officials said.

    He has been issued a notice to appear for questioning along with some others, a senior police official said.

    The former minister will be questioned about his presence in the event and details will be sought from him regarding what actually happened there, he said.

    Gautam resigned from his post on Sunday amid a controversy over his presence at the religious conversion event.

    The BJP had used the issue to attack AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal during the election campaigning in Gujarat and accused him of being “anti-Hindu”.

    In a letter shared on Twitter, Gautam said he attended the event in his personal capacity and it had nothing to do with his party or the ministry.

    He lashed out at the BJP for targeting Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alleging the saffron party was doing “dirty politics” on the issue.

    Gautam, who was the Minister for Social Welfare, SC and ST, Registrar of Co-operative Societies and Gurudwara Elections, said he is resigning as minister as he does not want his leader or AAP to be in trouble because of him.

  • Delhi to replace ‘Harijan’ with ‘Dr Ambedkar’ in names of colonies, streets: Rajendra Pal Gautam

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi will soon issue a notification to replace the word ‘Harijan’ with ‘Dr Ambedkar’ in the names of streets and colonies in the national capital, Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said on Thursday.

    Delhi will be one of the first states in the country to curb the use of the word which many people claim is “offensive and derogatory”, Gautam told PTI.

    He said a parliamentary committee had recommended that the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment issue fresh guidelines to all departments and the state governments, asking them to not use the term.

    In April 2018, the ministry wrote to all states and Union territories to avoid using the words ‘Dalit’ and ‘Harijan’ when referring to people belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) communities.

    It asked them to use ‘Scheduled Caste’ and its translation in other languages for official communication.

    “We have been working in this direction since 2019.

    The Delhi SC/ST/OBC Welfare Department wrote to the Urban Development Department, emphasising that it is a derogatory word and people belonging to Scheduled Castes do not like it,” Gautam said.

    “We proposed that the word ‘Harjian’ be replaced with ‘Dr Ambedkar’ in the names of colonies and streets in the national capital.

    However, the process got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

    The minister said he has instructed officials of the law department to complete the process within 10 days after which a notification will be issued.

    There are several ‘Harijan Bastis’, including in Vikaspuri, Palam and Kondili.

    Harijan Colony is a street in south Delhi’s Kalkaji locality.