NEW DELHI: The violence that rocked parts of the country during the April 2 Bharat Bandh, in which nine people lost their lives, was clearly organised caste violence and even Dalit activists of the BJP were killed allegedly by people identified with the RSS and the Bajrang Dal, says a report of a fact-finding team.
A CPI(M) delegation comprising members of various organisations visited three violence-affected Madhya Pradesh districts—Gwalior, Bhind and Morena—to study the ground situation.
The team met people injured in the violence and family members of those killed during the shutdown called to protest against the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court.
The report states that Dalits are living in a state of fear and extreme insecurity and are still being threatened allegedly by the RSS and Bajrang Dal under police patronage.
Calling for an impartial judicial inquiry, the delegation has sought action against erring officials and an investigation into charges that violent mobs came out of the residence of Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar.
“Fake cases and arrests of innocent people should be stopped forthwith. The role of the police has been questionable as they failed to protect the Dalits from attacks and also followed it up with one-sided action,” says the report.
The delegation met injured people admitted in government hospitals for treatment, and the victims said that the state government had not offered any help and the district authorities had not met them.
The delegation, which toured Madhya Pradesh on April 6 and 7, was stopped from entering Bhind by the district collector as a curfew was still in force.
In Gwalior, where 26-year-old Vimal Prakash was killed, the family said their permission was not sought for the autopsy and the post-mortem report was not given to them.
“The body was handed over by the police after 11 pm, and according to the family, there were over 40 police vehicles and they forced the family to cremate the body without allowing it to be brought home,” the report says.
The delegation visited Dalit areas in Gwalior and was told by the family of Rakesh Tamoti, who died of bullet injuries, that he was killed by a person who allegedly came out of Tomar’s home and started firing on people returning from a protest.
Chilling facts
A CPI(M) delegation consisting of members of various organisations visited three violence-affected Madhya Pradesh districts—Gwalior, Bhind and Morena—to study the ground situation.
The team met people injured in the violence and family members of those killed during the shutdown called to protest against the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court.
The report states that Dalits are living in a state of fear and extreme insecurity and are still being threatened allegedly by the RSS and Bajrang Dal under police patronage.
Calling for a judicial inquiry, the delegation has sought action against erring officials and a probe into charges that violent mobs came out of the home of Union rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar.