Union Minister, VK Singh was criticised by political parties for his controversial comments on the Haryana killings.
Union Minister VK Singh was today criticised by opposition parties for his dog remark on Dalit killing in Faridabad with a demand made for his sacking and Narendra Modi's infamous "puppy" analogy in the context of 2002 Gujarat riots also being raked up.
The opposition also demanded that a criminal case be registered against the former Army Chief, under the Prevention of Atrocities on Scheduled Castes Act even as Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said it will file a police complaint demanding his arrest under the Act.
The BJP, however, stood by Mr Singh, observing that the minister himself has said that his statement was not intended to draw an analogy between the Faridabad incident and stoning of a dog. "We should not blow the whole thing out of proportion," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
The minister was in the middle of a controversy over his comments that the Centre cannot be blamed if somebody throws a stone at a dog to shield it from criticism for the Faridabad Dalit burning incident in which two children were killed.
He later clarified that his statement was not intended to draw an analogy to the incident.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said, "....comparing the death of two little children who were burnt alive to possibly the stoning of a dog...what could be more preposterous and abominable than that. This reflects the mindset of the government.
"To recall the Prime Minister of India made a similar analogy about two years back in an interview (when he was chief minister of Gujarat) when he said that if a pup gets crushed under the wheels of a car that needs to be empathised too. That remark was in the context of the Gujarat pogrom," he said.
CPI(M) politburo member, Brinda Karat described Mr Singh's remarks as "arrogance of casteism".
She said, "His statement is a clear casteist statement and it comes under the provisions of the prevention of crime against SC Act... we all know that Modiji at one time had talked about puppies in relation to a particular community. But at least now that he is Prime Minister, hopefully he will get over his own prejudices and take action against his person," she said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Mr Singh's statement as shameful and that it was prosecutable under SC/ST Act. "A case should be registered against him immediately," he added.