BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of crimes against Dalits and tribal people, respectively, last year among the states, the latest National Crime Records Bureau report shows.

Uttar Pradesh, ruled by Yogi Adityanath, reported 15,368 crimes against the Scheduled Castes in 2022, followed by Rajasthan (8,752), Madhya Pradesh (7,733) and Bihar (6,509).

The figures include all crimes and atrocities committed against the Scheduled Castes and not just cases filed under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Last year 57,428 crimes against Dalits were reported in the country, up from 50,744 in 2021 and 50,202 in 2020.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan. File picture

Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Madhya Pradesh has topped the list of crimes against the Scheduled Tribes for three years running: from 2020 to 2022. The state reported 2,979 such cases last year followed by Rajasthan (2,521) and Odisha (773).

Madhya Pradesh had reported 2,627 crimes against tribal people in 2021 and 2,401 in 2020.

A former director-general of Uttar Pradesh police said the NCRB data supported “the anecdotal accounts of repeated atrocities against Dalits and Scheduled Tribes in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh”.

“The political leadership always claims it has taken measures for the welfare of the two deprived communities, but it often remains silent on crimes against them,” the former DGP told The Telegraph.

In July this year, a video purportedly showed a man identified as Pravesh Shukla urinating on a tribal man, Dashmesh Rawat, in Madhya Pradesh. The incident triggered a national uproar, prompting chief minister Chouhan to call Rawat to his official residence, wash his feet as an act of atonement, and apologise to him.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday castigated the Narendra Modi government over the rising crimes against Dalits and tribal people in the country and alleged that this was part of the BJP’s agenda of dividing society.

In a post on X, Kharge said that crimes against Dalits had increased by 46.11 per cent since 2013 and those against Adivasis by 48.15 per cent. He added that the continuing oppression of Dalits and Adivasis had exposed the hypocrisy of the BJP-RSS claims of inclusivity, as represented by the catchline “sabka saath”.

“The latest report of the NCRB is not mere statistics, it is BJP’s black letter to make the life of SC-ST community unsafe. Injustice, atrocities, and repression are part of the conspiratorial agenda of dividing the society by the BJP over the last decade,” he wrote.