Br Wasnik,
He is, in deed, a Hero. Hope, he and his family get justice.
Why cant we do something? There are several active members from Punjab on
our forums. Why cant we provide some assistance which will last for ever -like
financing to open a telephone booth or petrol bunk etc. If we donate some money
(in cash) it will be gone in few days. Instead, we can pool our money and
establish something which can give a stead income in long run. I am ready to
part with my share if somebody (preferably from Punjab) comes forward with a
solid proposal to help this Hero.
With regards
Benjamin Paul Kaila.
Here is the news item, FYI.
=============================================
Human Rights
Bant Singh: Dalit, Defiant, Decapitated
Posted: 2006/01/28
From: Punjab Dalit Solidarity
Two hands and a leg amputated. The remaining limb yet to heal, has
turned gangrenous and may also have to be removed. His kidneys have been
damaged due to excessive bleeding and he can hardly eat and digest any food.
And yet defiance still sparkles in the eyes of Bant Singh, a
Dalit agricultural labour activist, as he lies in the trauma ward of a
state-run hospital in Chandigarh where doctors are battling to save his only
remaining leg and even his life.
It is precisely for this defiance, coming from a lower caste Dalit, that Bant
Singh from Jhabhar village of Mansa district in Punjab was beaten to pulp and
left for dead by armed upper caste men around a fortnight ago.
Apart from his activities organizing poor, agricultural workers Bant Singhs
greatest sin, in the eyes of his tormentors, was the long running battle for
justice against the upper caste men who raped his minor daughter five years
ago. The court case he launched, braving both threats of violence and attempted
bribes, resulted in life sentences for three of the culprits in 2002.
On the evening of January 5, 2006 as Bant Singh returned home after campaigning
for a national agricultural labour assembly to be held in Andhra Pradesh later
during the month the upper castes wrought their revenge.
Walking through the wheat fields Bant Singh was waylaid by a gang of seven men,
suspected to be sent by Jaswant and Niranjan Singh, the current and former
headmen of his village. One of them brandished a revolver to prevent any
resistance while the other six set upon him with iron rods and axes beating him
to pulp.
Just after leaving him for dead, the attackers called up Beant Singh, another
former headman from Bant Singhs village to come and pick up the body. Even
this was not the end of the torment heaped on this 40-year-old father of eight
children and the only earning member in the family.
At the Mansa Civil Hospital where Bant Singh was taken soon after the attack
Purushottam Goel, the doctor who admitted the patient, demanded a bribe and did
not even care to provide treatment for 36 full hours. Bant Singh was bandaged
only on the 7 th and the next day his attendants were told that the hospital
lacked facilities to treat him and so he should be removed to some other
hospital. By the time Bant Singh was shifted to the PGI, Chandigarh, it was too
late to save two of his hands and leg.
Even now as he lies in a hospital fighting for survival influential upper caste
families in his village are threatening all those who are helping him out in
his grave crisis. While there are conflicting reports of the Mansa police
arresting some of the men who attacked him there is no certainty that they will
be ever punished.
Following are the demands that have been raised by Bant Singhs colleagues and
comrades from the agricultural labour rights and other movements in Punjab
demanding justice for him and his family:
1. The Punjab Government make arrangements for best possible medical treatment
and artificial limbs for Bant Singh.
2. A high level team of the National Human Rights Commission visit the patient
and his village to ascertain facts of the case.
3. The culprits as well as Jaswant and Niranjan Singh be booked under Sec. 307
IPC and Sec. 120B and the SC/ST Act and immediately be arrested.
4. A compensation of Rupees10,00,000 be granted to the family and a permanent
attendant be provided to Bant Singh.
5. The wife of Bant Singh be provided with a Government job.
6. Dr. Purushottam Goel be immediately terminated.
7. An Independent National Commission be set up to enquire into atrocities on
Dalits in Punjab, in particular those employed as agricultural labour.
Vaibhav Wasnik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=508036
Regards,
Wasnik
--
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble
in your shoe.
Muhammad Ali
"The one who got opportunity became a policeman and the one who was denied
it became a criminal. The one who was employed took up the
job and the one who was denied it became a thug".
logic is not reason and analogy is not argument
Babasaheb Ambedkar
lost rights are never gained by the appeal to the conscience of the
usurpers, but by relentless struggle... Goats are used for sacrifical
offerings not lions.
Babasaheb Ambedkar.
Only when a slave is made to realise his slavery can he revolt against it.
Babasaheb Ambedkar
Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free
though is not in chains is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not
free though he may not be in prison is a prisoner and not a free man. One
whose mind is not free though alive is better than dead. Freedom of mind
is the truth of one's existence.
Babasaheb Ambedkar
the guilty one is not one who commits the sin, but one who causes the
darkness.
Victor Hugo from les Miserables.
Please visit www.ambedkar.org for latest Views & News regarding Dalits. Also
get free email id for you & your family.
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An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast.
If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to
society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar
Please visit www.ambedkarscholarship.org
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