Five Dalits Lynched in
Haryana Report of the Fact Finding Team Of National Campaign on Dalit
Human Right Dr. Vimal Thorat (National Co-Convenor,
NCDHR) & Dr. Umakant Members of the Fact Finding TeamDr. Vimal Thorat Mr. Sudesh Tanwar Ms. Rajni Tilak Dr. Mukesh Manas Ms. Manjula Pradeep Dr. Narendra Kumar Mr. S.P. Chauhan Dr. Umakant Five innocent Dalits were lynched to death allegedly by the police in connivance with local VHP activist on 15th October 2002 at Dulina Police Post, Jhajjar in Haryana. Even after 16 days of this brutal killings of Dalits no action has been taken either by the police or the state government. The blood stains on the road in front of the Dulina Police Post and the confusing stories made out by the local police does create some suspicion of an attempt to cover up the role of police in the grisly murder of Dalits. The story of cow killing does not seem to be true. The complicity of police in the whole affair does seem to be very deep as the police has failed to explain convincingly the sequence of events leading to the gruesome murder of Dalits. A fact finding team of NCDHR visited Jhajjar, Dulina, Badshahpur, Tikli and Aklimpur in Haryana on 20th October 2002 to make an on the spot assessment of the incident. The team members found out that the police officials were neither present at Jhajjar Police Station nor at Dulina Police Post. Only head constables have put up there to answer any query regarding this incident. The official enquiry as ordered by the Chief Minister of Haryana has also not done much work so far. The very fact that the whole incident happened in the presence of the City Magistrate, the DSP of Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh, the Block Development Officer and at least 50 policemen points an accusing finger towards their involvement in this particular incident. Instead of arresting the culprits the police has merely filed an FIR against the mob and ironically the police has registered a case against the victims under the Cow Slaughter (Prevention) Act. The City Magistrate was quoted as saying that ten faces were in front of his eyes right through the night and he could not sleep, but even then not even a single person has been arrested so far. Under pressure from various quarters the Chief Minister of Haryana merely ordered an official inquiry to be headed by the Divisional Commissioner of Rohtak Mr. R.R. Banswal and also promised to pay Rs. 1 lakh (latter enhanced to Rs. 5 lakh) each to the victims family. Though Mr. Chautala has been visiting various nearby areas but went to see the victims family members only on 24th October 2002. The callous attitude of the Chautala Government towards the incident has certainly diminished the chance of Dalits getting any justice. The problem of untouchability, discrimination and other human rights violation of Dalits have to be analysed in a proper perspective. How ironical it is that even after 55 years of independent governance and also 54 years of passing of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dalits are still struggling for freedom, dignity and justice. Day in and day out Dalits are humiliated, killed, Dalit women are raped, discriminated and various other human rights violated. Dalits are not safe in any part of this country and Haryana is not an exception in this regard. Between 1990 and 2000, a total of 3,72,716 cases were registered with the police nationwide as cognizable crimes against the Dalits. The actual figure could still be higher as there was distinct possibility of all the cases not being registered for various reasons. Dalits have been the worst sufferers in the exploitative Hindu Social Order. Segregation and exploitation have been their fate. As opposed to the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, according to Dr. Ambedkar, the Hindu Social Order is based on the principles of graded inequality, fixity of occupations and fixation of people within their respective castes. Society at large remains exploitative, unfair and criminally unjust to them. Educational and Economic ProfileThe general condition of education among the Dalits is pitiable. It is a matter of common knowledge that the states have lagged behind in providing education to Dalits. As per 1991 Census the literacy rates among the Dalits was only 37.41%. And as far as the case of Haryana is concerned only 39.22% of Dalits are literate. The dropout rates among Dalits in Haryana at primary stage is 36.01%, at middle stage 59.64% and at secondary stage it is 78.12%. According to the 1991 Census, 81% of Dalits population lives in rural areas and only 19% in urban areas. In Haryana, 46.56% of Dalits in rural areas live below poverty line whereas in the urban areas the figure is 23.58%. It is also a fact that 81% of Dalit population in Haryana owns less than half acre of land. Large under utilization of various development outlays have also been reported from Haryana and a host of other states. Atrocities committed against Dalits in Haryana5 cases of Murder, 33 cases of Hurt, 26 cases of Rape, 8 cases of Kidnapping and Abduction, 1 case of Dacoity, 1 case of Arson, 18 cases under SC and ST (POA) Act and 29 other offences were reported from Haryana during 1999. In the year 2000, 2 cases of Murder, 33 cases of Hurt, 20 cases of Rape, 6 cases of Kidnapping and Abduction, 2 cases of Arson, 1 case under PCR Act, 19 cases under SC and ST (POA) Act and 26 other offences were reported from Haryana. Preliminary Findings: Date of Incident: 15th
October 2002 (On the day of Dusshera) Place of Incident: Dulina Police Post, 8 Km. From Jhajjar
District Police Station Head Quarters. Time of Incident: From 6.00 pm to 10.00pm (Estimated) Total no. of victims: 5 Name of the victims: Virender and Dayachand from Badshahpur village Totaram from Aklimpur Village Raju from Tikli Village (Minor, age – 16 years) Kailash from Karnal Important points relating to the incident :
Details of the Incident:
This ghastly killing of five innocent Dalits has once again established the fact that the life, dignity, honour and human rights of Dalits have always remained in danger. Dulina is not the first incident of this kind and certainly will not remain the last one. Yes, there was a method in the madness i.e. the alleged nexus between the police and the VHP activists. Corrective actions must be taken sooner than latter. The silence of larger civil society bears a testimony to their complicity as far as the violation of human rights of Dalits are concerned. Our demands
Date: October 31, 2002 Place: New Delhi Authors of this report can be contacted at: <Dr. Vimal Thorat> skthorat@hotmail.com <Dr. Umakant> uk4in@yahoo.co.in |