The death of a Dalit activist, who immolated himself in front of the district collector’s office in Patan on Thursday, highlights the plight of lower caste people in Gujarat.

The incident also brought to the fore a growing rift between the ruling BJP and RSS.

Probably for first time in the 23 years that the BJP has been ruling in Gujarat, the RSS has condemned the death of someone who had protested against the ruling party and its dispensation.

Dalit activist Vankar set himself on fire in protest against the delay in allotment of a piece of land to a landless dalit family which had paid Rs 22,200 five years back.

Not only did the RSS describe the Dalit activist’s death as a ‘painful and tragic’ event, its information network has issued press releases in as many as three languages, Gujarati, Hindi and English.

“It is indeed a shameful and unfortunate event”, the RSS said in a marked departure from its total silence towards earlier instances of atrocities on Dalits, including the infamous July 2016 lynching of a family in Una by self-styled ‘cow vigilantes’.

In fact, social media wings of the Sangh Parivar had sought to malign the journalists who had visited the Una family as the Saurashtra town is close to the Union Territory island Diu where there is no prohibition, unlike in Gujarat.

Declaring its support to the grieving family this time, the RSS “expected” the authorities to look into the ‘sensitive matter’ and called for speedy justice.

Eminent social scientist and author Achyut Yagnik has linked the RSS’ new found empathy for Dalits to the recent resignation of a senior ideologue over the issue of widening rift between the lower castes and other sections of Hindus.

Yagnik told The Statesman on Saturday that the RSS stand on the Dalit activist’s self-immolation must have been tempted by Mulchand Rana quitting the RSS and BJP recently. Rana, a Dalit who had joined the RSS in 1970, has been quoted, while quitting, as saying “neither the RSS nor the BJP is serious about dalit atrocities and discrimination in Gujarat”.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered an inquiry into the Dalit activist’s self-immolation while dalit organisations have held peaceful protests at several places in Gujarat.