Dehradun, Aug. 31 -- Uttarakhand Congress on Sunday staged a silent protest at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani where party president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally on August 8, which was later allegedly "purified" by a Hindu right-wing organisation. The Congress alleged that people linked to the BJP carried out the purification ritual and termed it an act of "untouchability" against Kharge, a Dalit leader. The BJP, however, denied any link with the organisation that conducted the ritual and said the venue was purified after alleged pro-Islam slogans were raised at the "religious" venue. Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UKPCC) president Ganesh Godiyal said the chief minister should explain what legal action should be taken over the alleged purification of the venue where Kharge addressed the rally. "The chief minister knows very well what happened to Kharge and how it fits within the ambit of the law. He also knows what legal action should be taken against those responsible. Is he shirking his responsibility? He should answer this. The BJP's state and central leaders, who seek to come to power through religious polarisation, should also answer whether they consider Kharge a Hindu and whether they believe such treatment of him is justified. This is completely unacceptable," Godiyal said. "We have filed complaints, but none of them has been converted into an FIR. No FIR is being registered because of pressure from the government," he alleged. The issue was reignited recently after state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt on Wednesday allegedly defended the purification ritual. "Kharge's rally was held at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani where such slogans were raised that were inappropriate. The place was defiled, and it was later purified.... Congress leaders are actually making a mockery of their own leader Kharge," Bhatt said. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday said those who carried out the ritual were not associated with the BJP. "Nobody in Uttarakhand knows what Mallikarjun Kharge's caste is. Religious slogans were raised at the venue and it was defiled. It is a religious place where Ramlila is staged. Slogans associated with a particular religion were raised there. The religious organisation that conducted the purification programme did so because of this," Dhami told reporters. He also accused the Congress of being "issueless" and said there was no caste discrimination in Uttarakhand. "Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the principle of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas' is helping reduce such discrimination. The Congress has always worked towards appeasement. People in the state and across the country know that no such incident has taken place against either the Congress or Kharge," Dhami said. On Saturday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addressed a press conference in Delhi over the incident and demanded an FIR must be filed over what he termed as "act of untouchability" towards Kharge. "Whatever happened to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge ji in Haldwani is untouchability against him, disguised as 'purification', and untouchability is a punishable offence under the Indian Constitution," he said, adding that Dalits across the country face humiliation from birth to death. "The louder their voice rises, the fiercer the attack on them becomes," he said. He asked why an FIR has not been registered in the matter despite 20 days having passed since the incident. Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "anti-Dalit" ideology was visible to Dalits across the country. He said, "An FIR must be filed under the SC-ST Act at the earliest, action must be taken, and justice must be served." Union minister of state Ajay Tamta said the incident has no connection with the BJP and accused the Congress of trying to create a political narrative around it. "When the incident took place, Parliament was in session. Kharge raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on August 13. I came to know about the incident and gathered information about it. The venue is a place where religious events are held. They are trying to create a political narrative around the incident. The organisation involved has no link with the BJP," Tamta said....