[ad_1]
A member of India’s Dalit group has been sworn in because the chief minister of Punjab state, marking the primary time that somebody from the bottom caste has achieved high workplace within the north-western province.
On Monday, Charanjit Singh Channi was sworn in as sixteenth chief minister of Punjab in a small ceremony, reportedly solely attended by some 40 folks, together with MP Rahul Gandhi, who leads the opposition Indian Nationwide Congress (INC) occasion.
Channi, a Sikh, is the primary member of the Dalit group to change into chief minister of the state which borders Pakistan.
The 58-year-old was chosen to succeed Amarinder Singh on Sunday after his resignation on Saturday. Channi, like his predecessor, is a member of Gandhi’s INC.
The brand new chief minister struck an emotional tone at his swearing in. “We as soon as did not have a roof in our home, my mom & I used to get mud to plaster our partitions,” he said, in accordance with a translation offered by INC Congressman Gaurav Pandhi. Channi added that it was because of the INC and Gandhi that he was right here immediately being sworn in as chief minister.
Additionally on rt.com
India plans to reopen for worldwide tourism inside 10 days, reviews say, will problem free visas to first 500,000 vacationers
The transfer has been broadly reported in India as an try by the INC to win votes from the Dalit group, which represents round a 3rd of the inhabitants in Punjab.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Bharatiya Janata Social gathering) shared a message of assist to Channi, congratulating him on being sworn in as Pubjab’s chief minister. “Will proceed to work with the Punjab authorities for the betterment of the folks of Punjab,” he wrote.
Channi is just not the primary Dalit particular person to carry such a submit in India, whereas the present President Ram Nath Kovind can also be from the identical group. Nonetheless, the Dalit group, as soon as referred to as ‘the untouchables’ stay massively underrepresented amid continued persecution.
Over the previous 12 months there was a reported 9.4% improve within the variety of crimes dedicated in opposition to Dalits, equating to a criminal offense each 10 minutes, in accordance with the Nationwide Crime Information Bureau.
When you like this story, share it with a pal!
[ad_2]
Source link
