NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS is an Advocacy Platform committed for Dalit Human Rights at the Grass root, National and International levels. Dalits In News aims at sensitizing Civil societies, HR Mechanisms and providing updates of HR violations on Dalits for their Intervention.
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS NCDHR Dalits In News March 09, 2007 Exclusive Tehelka THE CHRONICLE OF A MOB FORETOLD <http://www.tehelka.com/story_main27.asp?filename=Ne170307The_chronicle.asp> http://www.tehelka.com/story_main27.asp?filename=Ne170307The_chronicle.asp Jhajjar. Gohana. And now Salwan, where 'justice' by a caste panchayat saw dalit bastis looted and burnt. Shivam Vij reports on Haryana's latest atrocity. Photographs by Aditya Kapoor A letter from the Board of School Education, Haryana, addressed to "Pardeep, s/o Gopi Ram (Balmiki), vpo Salwan, District Karnal (Haryana), Pin-130246," lies with Pardeep's neighbours. Pardeep is not at home. He and his family fled their house on the afternoon of March 1 along with at least 150 other families who live in Salwan. The envelope contains the admit card for Pardeep's Class x board examinations. Textbooks and mock question papers lie on the floor of the abandoned two-room house. There is a notebook with English grammar lessons in Pardeep's handwriting. The first page has examples of "Present Indefinit" (SIC) tense, with an explanation in Hindi. Tenses are illustrated by simple sentences: Is he doing his duty? Has he done his duty? He has not done his duty. The road from Karnal city to Pardeep's village, Salwan, showcases rural India at its prosperous best. It is springtime; there is a water body after every other wheat and mustard field. Farmers walk around fields; the women are veiled, their eyes shielded from stares by strangers. There are pucca houses, latest model tractors and mobile phone towers. There is of course also the high-tension line, running all along this village idyll, invisible to the naked eye - the line that runs along ancient caste divides. On February 26, Pradeep (not Pardeep) and his brother Leelu - both in their teens - had taken their cattle to graze. According to eyewitnesses, when 40-year-old Mahipal, a Rajput by caste, found the cattle in his field he lost his cool. The two brothers belong to the dalit community of Balmikis and Mahipal allegedly referred to their caste insultingly. The angered Balmiki brothers beat him up. Then they went back to their house, got some more men, came back and beat Mahipal up till he lay dead. Pradeep and Leelu have been arrested and two others detained. Mahipal's body was sent for post mortem and he was cremated on March 1. The same day, Salwan's Rajputs met at the village's "badi" (big) chaupal or caste panchayat. The three dalit bastis (settlements) in Salwan were very quiet. "Run! Run! Run!" some Rajputs came shouting to the dalit bastis, soon after the big chaupal had convened. "Your houses are going to be set on fire!" No one knows whether they came so that the Balmiki residents could save their lives or whether they wanted to make it easier to loot the dalit homes. Men, women and children ran for their lives, seeking refuge in other villages. Older folk stayed back. They couldn't run and their lives mattered the least. Vedo says her son and daughter-in-law had to run with their five-day-old baby. Vedo hid herself so she didn't see the mob ransack her house, break suitcases, fans, mirrors, the TV set; nor did she see it take the jewellery. Vedo lived with her three sons, two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren in a three-room, double-storey house which now bears a desolate look. The mob was armed with swords, pickaxes, lathis, and, according to some Balmiki victims, even revolvers. They beat down the doors of Balmiki houses and destroyed specific articles - articles that signify prosperity. In house after house, utensils, bicycles and fans are misshapen, suitcases, trunks and cupboards ransacked, and jewellery and cash allegedly stolen, sometimes along with stored wheat and other grains. Smashed clocks tell the hour of the attack. After the looting and ransacking, the houses were set on fire. The Balmikis later managed to douse some flames. Balmikis say that the police cleared all evidence of fire, but burnt articles of clothing in the alleys, charred walls and the smell of burnt wood tell the truth. Come see my house too, and mine too, and please note my name: voices from all side beseech journalists, activists and visiting Balmikis from other villages. Rishal Singh and his wife, Bhagwanti are both above 80. They didn't flee from Salwan. "Where would I go? In the end I am fated to die at Rajput hands," Bhagwanti says. She recalls a similar flare-up with Rajputs 15 years ago and talks about the daily conflicts that erupt when Balmiki men and women working in Rajput fields are not paid. Even taking a little grass for fodder from their land can lead to abuse and violence, she says. On March 1, the mob had planned well in advance. They cut off phone lines so that the police could not be informed. The police claim that two policemen were present and one was hurt trying to stop the mob. District Collector, Karnal, BS Malik says that had the attack been pre-planned the police would have been ready. "How do you know it was pre-planned? Did you see it?" he asks. There are more policemen than residents in Salwan's three dalit bastis. The policemen are chatting and playing cards. Balmikis say they don't trust the administration but at least the police presence prevents summary violence by Rajputs. Malik says a total of 40-50 houses were ransacked but a walk through the village lanes reveals that he has got his figures wrong. Compensation cheques were handed out, the amount starting from Rs 200, but with the pressure building up the amount has gone up to Rs 5,000. Eighty-year-old Kasturi says that the jewellery for her granddaughter's marriage is missing, as she shows the wedding invitation card. Sheela's jewellery is also missing. As is Ramdari's, who breaks down, asking what was her fault. Wasn't it somebody else's dispute? Prakashi has the same question. They even took away her telephone. Now, her soldier son who is posted in Sikkim can't get in touch with her. Officials from the dc's office went about noting down names of those who had suffered losses, conveniently skipping the houses where there was no one. Many beseeched them for compensation. "Sab dramebaazi kar rahein hain'' (They are all acting), said an administration official who refused to give his name. However, when the cheques are handed out, most refuse to accept them. They want more compensation. It's been five days since the attack but not one of the victims has cleaned up their house. The smallest shard of glass lies where it fell. "If we clear this up who will believe that our houses were ransacked?" asks Amar Singh, who lost Rs 18,000 in cash. He could well be right. "Jewellery! Worth Rs 2 lakh! Looted!" exclaims collector Malik. Karnal sp Sibash Kabiraj laughs. They are in the Principal's office in the government school in Salwan. "If Rajputs had to steal do you think they would steal from Balmiki homes? Have they fallen on such bad days? If Balmikis had so much money I'd like to know where it came from!" Malik asks. Malik and Kabiraj say that only one house was burnt and the Balmiki widow who lived there was the culprit. The next day, on March 2, despite the heavy police presence, a Balimiki youth, 20-year-old Sonu died under suspicious circumstances. Murder, say Balmikis, because he was a cousin of those who killed the Rajput farmer. Suicide, say the Rajputs. The post-mortem confirms suicide, says SP Kabiraj. The post-mortem report has been "managed", say Balmiki residents. Kabiraj won't provide a copy of the post-mortem report or of any of the FIRs. "Even if you file an rti application I cannot give you a copy of the FIR because it will affect the investigation," he told Tehelka. He then changed tack, asking us to go to the Asandh tehsil police station 10 kilometres away. The sho there said that the FIRs had been sent with the accused who were being presented in the Karnal court. He promised to fax the FIRs to Tehelka the next day. Nothing was received. In a statement the National Council for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), which sent fact-finding committee to Salwan on March 2, has demanded that: "Police officials who are the primary cause for the attack on the dalit people must be arrested under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989." NCDHR convenor Arun Khote says that the police threatened and tried to prevent the NCDHR fact-finding team from going to Salwan. Kabiraj said that two had been arrested for Mahipal's murder, and another two detained, whereas five had been arrested for ransacking Balmiki homes and charged under provisions of the SC/ST Act. Addressing the Rajput panchayat in a large gathering which had assembled to attend Mahipal's chautha (condolence ceremony) on March 5, Malik and Kabiraj were apologetic when faced with the demand that the five accused of ransacking Balmiki homes not be charged under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. They said the guilty will be punished, even as Balmiki victims pointed out that it was strange that only five had been arrested when in fact hundreds had been involved in the attacks. The SC/ST Act says that a collective fine can be levied on the perpetrators if warranted. But no such measure is being considered in Salwan. Local Congress leaders were present at a condolence gathering for Mahipal, as was former Indian National Lok Dal mla, Ramesh Rana. Rana said that the police should bear in mind the reasons why the Rajputs were provoked and Rajputs were in fact protectors by caste. According to the NCDHR report, the mob which ransacked dalit homes was led by the Congress-affiliated Block Samiti Chairman, Surjit Pradhan. This perhaps explains why Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda dispatched Dr Ram Prakash, Working President of the Haryana Congress, to "defuse" the situation. The district administration and the police engineered a "compromise" whereby dalit and Rajput leaders went together to bring Sonu's body from Karnal hospital on March 4 after the post-mortem and to attend his cremation. Leaders of both communities declared that they would not celebrate Holi on March 4. The administration also claims that dalits who fled are being brought back to the village. "Balmikis may not have any choice but to accept such a compromise," says Karamveer, president of the Haryana SC/ST Employees' Association. Going by official records, Haryana has one of the lowest crime rates against dalits in the country. This also might be indicative of how many FIRs the police actually registers or how much faith dalits repose in the police. In 2002, five dalit men who skinned animals for a living were murdered in Jhajjar, allegedly for slaughtering a cow. In 2005, a 1,000-strong mob of Jats looted and torched 54 dalit houses in Gohana. Seventeen affected families never received compensation and all the accused are out on bail. The events in Salwan last week are reminiscent of Gohana. "When Gohana happened, Hooda was not initially taking action," says NCDHR co-convenor Vimal Thorat, "But as soon as we met Sonia Gandhi he got up from the hospital bed in Delhi and suspended the guilty officials. Seems he is waiting for the same this time." The Chief Minister's office did not respond to Tehelka's request for his views on the events in Salwan. Meanwhile, it is not certain if Pardeep will be able to take his board exams - it all depends on when peace returns to Salwan. The last entry in his grammar notebook has the following sentences: He has not done his duty. I have not done my duty. They have not done their duty. ARUN KHOTE National Media Secretary NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON DALIT HUMAN RIGHTS (NCDHR) Add: 8/1, South Patel Nagar, NEW DELHI- 110008 ( INDIA) Mobile : 91# 9350183802 Ph & Fax- 91#11-25842249, 91#11-25842250 E Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website : www.dalits.org www.ncdhr.org
