Midnight in Sarvajan Samaj <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/message/8343;_ylc=X3oDMTJycmw3ZGQ2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzEzMzU5MzQ3BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDMwOQRtc2dJZAM4MzQzBHNlYwNkbXNnBHNsawN2bXNnBHN0aW1lAzExODc1MjIyMDk-> http://www.tehelka.com/story_main33.asp?filename=Ne250807Midnight.asp
Not even a hundred days of BSP raj in UP and a Brahmin party MLA is accused of shielding fellow Brahmins in the murder of a Dalit. He loved to run," says Agnisen Gautam of his elder brother, Chakrasen, at their home in the Dalit (Chamar) basti of the village of Bhadevera in Pratapgarh, a district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chakrasen, 21, was just back from completing his ba at Allahabad University, he had returned on July 30. At 5 am on August 1, he set out for his morning ablution and a kilometre-long run. He hadn't had enough sleep because Santosh Mishra, in the neighbouring Brahmin basti, had a loud kirtan going all night. But run he felt he must. As he set out past Mishra's general store, Chakrasen's mind must have been occupied by anxiety for the future. He had just been admitted to the B. Tech course of the Uttar Pradesh Technical University -- becoming an engineer would get him a lucrative job, but that would be some years away. He had already filled out several forms for government jobs and was due to go on August 5 to Dhanbad for the Railways' exam. "He had bought a new bag for the trip," Agnisen says, "it cost Rs 250." Agnisen also displays Chakrasen's certificate from the British School of Languages in Allahabad, where he had enrolled to make up for the deficiency in English that his government school education had left him with. Chakrasen, his family says, was torn between taking up a clerical job right away and waiting for an engineering degree four years later. His father had died when Chakrasen was just three. He and his two brothers had gone to school thanks largely to their grandfather, 75-year-old Shivmurti. The family had begun doing well recently, particularly after the gram panchayat allotted them a pds shop two years ago -- that the gram pradhan of the day was Dalit helped. There was no great pressure on Chakrasen to take up a job, but how long could his mother and grandfather support him? He had two brothers -- Agnisen, 20, had just joined Allahabad University, and Shaktisen, 15, was in high school. An hour after he left home on August 1, somebody else had solved Chakrasen's dilemma. It was the newspaper vendor who brought the news to his grandfather that he had seen someone like Chakrasen being lynched. "They have bound him like an animal and are beating him up," said the hawker. Shivkumar and Agnisen rushed out -- on the way, they found Chakrasen's slippers and the bottle he had taken with him for his ablution. Chakrasen himself was discovered in the house of one Indrajit Paswan, a Dalit (Pasi). He was on the floor, bound, with a crowd around him, half of whom were kicking him as the other half tried to prevent them. "How did you come to be here?" a shocked Shivmurti asked his grandson. "Santosh and Akash," said Chakrasen. At which, both started kicking him even harder, says Shivmurti, who was then kicked out along with Agnisen. Both were slapped and threatened -- they fled in fear of their lives. A little later, the police were seen leaving Paswan's house, telling people not to go there as Chakrasen had already died, and his body was being taken home. Why did Santosh Mishra and Akash Dubey do this? "How do we know?" weeps Chakrasen's mother. Actually, she does know. It has to do with the pds ration shop. When the shop was allotted to the Gautams in May 2004, Mishra had a condition: he wanted far more rations from the shop than his Above Poverty Line ration card entitled him to. The Gautams say he meant to resell the rations at market rates in his kirana shop. "I said if we give you this much, then what will we give those with below poverty line cards?" says Shivmurti. >From then on, Mishra nursed a grudge against the family. Ten months ago, he told Shivmurti: "Ladke ko bhale hi tumne bahut padha likha liya ho, par tumhare kaam nahi aayega (you've put your grandson through a lot of schooling, but it won't be of any use to you)." The hint was that Chakrasen would be murdered. Shivmurti complained to the dm, the sp and the local police station. A response came and the police arrived to take Mishra into custody. Then the village Thakurs stepped in to plead with Shivmurti: "Apne gaon ka mamla hain, jaane do (it's a village matter, let it be)." Mishra apologised and Shivmurti withdrew his complaint. But the threats didn't stop. Mishra would intimidate Chakrasen every time he came home from Allahabad. "Tumko barbad kar denge, chorey nahin (I'll ruin you, I won't forgive you)," is what Shivmurti says he would say. "On Monday, July 30, Chakrasen arrived from Allahabad; on Tuesday night, Santosh organised his weekly kirtan, and on Wednesday morning he put his words into action," says Chakrasen's mother. Santosh Mishra and co-accused Akash Dubey, both Brahmins, are absconding, while the police have arrested Indrajit Paswan and his two brothers. Another accused is also a Pasi, but locals say he died four years ago. The Gautams did not want to name the Paswans in the fir, but the police, they say, forced them do so. They also allege that Mishra continues to visit the village, often at night, but he and Dubey are still at large because of pressure from the local bsp mla, Ram Shiromani Shukla, also a Brahmin and said to be one of Mishra's close associates. Shukla denies the charge, calling it "false propaganda being spread by the Samajwadi Party people", and claiming that it was he who had a second fir lodged under the sc/st (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and that he also gave Rs 3,000 towards Chakrasen's last rites. "On the contrary," says Agnisen, "Shukla offered us Rs 5 lakh to drop charges against Mishra and Dubey." The Gautams also wanted to take the body by car straight to UP Chief Minister Mayawati's residence. "But," says Agnisen, "Shukla and the police forced the drivers of the two cars we hired to go away." Agnisen also alleges that Shukla told the police at the Patti stationhouse to let Mishra and Dubey off: "Woh kahen ki woh Pandit hain, unhein chhod do, tumhein ashirwad denge (he said they were Pandits and would bless them if you let them go)." Agnisen also says that the family had told the president of the bsp's Pratapgarh unit, RD Gautam, a Dalit, that the bsp mla was using his position to save the accused. In response, claims Agnisen, Gautam said his party colleague was merely fulfilling his "jatigat kartavya (caste obligation)", but gave assurances that he would personally ensure that the family got justice. While the copy of the fir given to the family is too faint to be legible -- deliberately, says the family -- the post-mortem report says the cause of death was "asphyxia as a result of acute mortem strangulation". The family also says that the police did not file a report on the scene of the crime and that Mishra's father's name was deliberately falsified in the fir so there would be an ambiguity over who to arrest. The police deny these charges, and say they are doing all they can. They also claim modalities for compensation under the Atrocities Act are also being worked out. Regardless of whether Mishra and Dubey are convicted, the Pratapgarh unit of the bsp's Brahmin Bhaichara Committee will need a lot of moral courage now to walk around Bhadevera's Chamar basti and chant the slogan, Brahmin shank bajayega, haathi Dilli jayega (the Brahmin wil blow the conch shell, and take the bsp to Delhi). Aug 25, 2007 -- Ranjit --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
