Ahemdabad, thousands of Dalits on Sunday nudged and pushed to be seen at a massive gathering, and took a mass pledge not to carry away animal carcasses from the streets of Gujarat.
It was the incident in Una on July 12 - where cow protection vigilantes mercilessly beat four Dalits found skinning a dead cow - that triggered protests by Dalits in Gujarat.
At the massive congregation, organised by the Dalit community and several Dalit groups and activists, community leaders slammed the State government and also Dalit political leaders from the BJP and Congress for failing to protect their rights.
The padayatra was announced by the community leaders from Ahmedabad to Mota Samadhiyala from August 5.
Dalit activist and one of the organisers of the rally, Jignesh Mevani, said, “I urge you all to give up disposing of dead animals and cleaning sewerage lines. We will not do such works and face assault and flogging. We will demand that the government must allot us agriculture land so that we can lead a respectable life".
This was the first time that as many as 30 Dalit groups from across the state came together on one platform.
