New Delhi:Union minister and LokJanshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan has affirmed  that new age Dalits know how to protect their "self respect" and they are assertive unlike the earlier generation whiledemanding time-bound probe into the Maharashtra caste clash.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Paswan said there is a huge difference between Dalits of earlier generation and the present one. They won't accept harassment or discrimination. "They are strong and know how to protect their self respect," the Dalit leader said while cautioning that there should be no efforts to forcibly suppress them.

Paswan said he has talked to Maharashtra chief minister DevendraFadnavis and has demanded that strict action be taken against those found guilty. While rejecting the charge that such violence was taking place mostly in BJP-ruled states, Paswan said there was also a need to find out the reasons for the caste violence in Maharashtra which had no such history.

"Judicial inquiry should be conducted in a time-bound manner. Some people are saying that it was due to administrative lapses while others are accusing some people behind the violence. Whosoever are guilty, strict action should be taken against them," he told reporters.