NEW DELHI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government Wednesday condemned the public thrashing of four Dalit (lower caste) men over allegations of cow slaughtering in the western state of Gujarat.
"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is upset about the attack on Dalits," Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament).
He added: "Be it Dalits in Gujarat, or any other state ruled by any other party, we are there to help you. We must get a permanent solution to such incidents. The mindset has to change."
The Home Minister said that the four accused were arrested and will be tried in a fast-track court, and at least eight policemen had been suspended over the incident.
However, the Parliament had to be adjourned twice following uproar by opposition parties over the attack on Dalits in the home state of the Prime Minister.
Earlier this morning, the main opposition Congress party's chief Sonia Gandhi termed the incident as an "example of social terror that this government condones" in a meeting of her party lawmakers.
The four Dalit men were on July 11 were stripped, tied to a vehicle, flogged with iron rods and paraded by self-styled cow protectors in Una, a town some 360 kms from Ahmedabad city in Gujarat.
