Union minister of state for social justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday, said the Republican Party of India (RPI) will approach the Supreme Court against the Ministry of Information and Broadcast directive advising media to refrain from using the term ‘Dalit’.
The Bombay high court in June had asked the I&B ministry to consider issuing a directive to the media to stop using the word ‘Dalit’.
RPI chief said, “We would go to the Supreme Court and challenge the Bombay High Court’s decision to ban the usage of the term ‘Dalit’ because it is not derogatory.
Athawale’s ministry in March had written to other central ministries and state governments, advising them to avoid using the term ‘Dalit’ and instead use ‘person belonging to Scheduled Castes’ in all official communications.
Athawale further added, he respects the court decision to use the word “Scheduled Caste” in place of “Dalit” in official documents, but media should not be stopped from using the word.
“The Dalit community had objections with the word ‘Harijan’ but the word was not banned”, said RPI chief.
