Chandigarh, June 1 (IANS) The Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission has summoned Union Minister of State for Railways, Ravneet Singh Bittu, to appear before the commission on June 4 to present his reply regarding the case of allegedly using casteist remarks.

Sharing details about this, Jasvir Singh Garhi, Chairman of the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission, on Monday said that it came to his notice through social media that Union Minister Ravneet Singh had used casteist words during his Dhuri town visit.

A report on the issue was sought from the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Sangrur, but the commission expressed disagreement with the report presented by the police.

A day earlier, Ravneet Singh offered an apology, saying he never intended to hurt the sentiments of any community.

Saying his remarks were taken out of context, the Union Minister told the media in Amritsar that he sought forgiveness for his “misjudgment”.

“I never intended to belittle any Scheduled Caste, OBC, Hindu, Sikh or any other community. The atmosphere during the incident was extremely charged, with tensions running high between the police and others present. Deliberately or otherwise, only certain portions of the exchange received attention,” he said, while clarifying that the comments were made during a heated confrontation on May 26 with Punjab Police personnel during the just concluded civic body elections in Sangrur.

He also apologised to social organisations, NGOs, deras and religious leaders if his remarks had caused offence.

Earlier, taking cognisance of a video on social media, the State Commission for Scheduled Castes had directed the Senior Superintendent of Police to probe the incident where the situation escalated after police detained BJP leader Onkar Singh, a former officer on special duty to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, for allegedly campaigning for the BJP during the mandatory silent period.

A video of a tense exchange between the Union Minister and Senior Superintendent of Police Ravjot Grewal, Superintendent of Police Rajesh Chibber and other police personnel went viral on social media, prompting the commission’s intervention.

–IANS

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