BHOPAL: Once infamous for being the fertile land of dreaded inter-state dacoits, the Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh seems to be emerging as the hotbed of atrocities against the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/STs).
The Madhya Pradesh Home (Police) Department has issued a notification about as many as 88 urban wards/localities and villages in 63 police station areas of 23 districts of the state, where there are high possibilities of atrocities against the members of SC and STs.
Out of these 88 urban wards and villages, which have been identified as areas where the possibility of atrocities against the SC and STs is high, 47 or more than 53% are located in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
Out of the 63 police stations across the state identified in the official notification, 27 or around 43% of the police stations are in the Gwalior-Chambal region, which neighbours both Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Gwalior district houses a maximum of 16 such wards and villages, with a maximum four areas each coming under the purview of Janakganj and Bahodapur police stations, followed by Dabra police station with three such wards/villages and Gwalior city housing two such wards.
Guna district of the same region comes next, with 13 such wards/villages which are located in five police station areas. A maximum of five such urban wards are located in the Cantt police station, while four wards are located in the Guna Kotwali area.
Importantly, Guna is the home district of former MP CM and current Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh.
The adjoining Shivpuri district houses seven such wards/villages spread in six police station areas, the neighbouring Ashoknagar district has three such areas, one each under three police stations.
The three districts, Guna, Shivpuri and Ashoknagar form part of the union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s Lok Sabha constituency.
Two other districts of the Gwalior-Chambal region, including Morena and Bhind, house six and two such wards/villages respectively.
According to a senior state police officer, who was posted in the same region in the past, the scheduled castes, particularly the Jatavs are in high numbers in many parts of the region and also are more conscious and aware about their rights and the legal remedies available.
“It’s possibly due to the fact that they are more proactive when it comes to reporting the police atrocities against them,” the senior cop now posted at the state police headquarters said.
Notably, back in April 2018, at least six people were killed and several others were injured, reportedly in the widespread inter-caste violence in Gwalior, Morena and Bhind districts of Gwalior-Chambal region, during the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits to protest against a Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act. The deceased had included four Dalits and two upper-caste Hindus.
While the Gwalior-Chambal region houses 47 (53%) out of the 88 urban wards/villages identified as most vulnerable to atrocities against the SC and STs, the central MP and Bundelkhand regions are second and third with 13 and 12 such wards/villages, respectively.
While central MP’s Narmadapuram district houses six such areas, the Sagar district of Bundelkhand region has five such identified areas. Chhatarpur in Bundelkhand and Vidisha in central MP are the next, with four areas each.
“Districts like Sagar, Chhatarpur and Tikamgarh have for decades witnessed the cruel dominance of powerful caste people against the SCs and STs. The exploitation of such weaker castes and sections is perhaps the highest and in the most extreme form in the Bundelkhand region, which borders UP’s Bundelkhand region,” the senior police officer said.
The Malwa-Nimar region (having a major population of Bhil, Bhilala, Gond and Korku tribes, besides pockets of significant Dalit population) is fourth on the ladder with 11 such identified wards/villages, while the tribal dominated Mahakoshal region (dense forests housing Gonds, Kols, Baiga and Bharia tribes) has lowest five such identified areas.
Surprisingly, the Vindhya region, which is neighboured by Chhattisgarh and UP and has been counted as one of the cauldrons of caste-based politics of MP, doesn’t have any such identified area, where the possibility of atrocities against SC and STs is comparatively high.
According to the additional director general of police (Anusuchit Jati Janjati Kalyan-AJK) Ashutosh Roy, “The areas (urban wards and villages) where there is a high possibility of atrocities against the SCs and STs are identified based on the available statistics of incidents with the state police. The objective of this exercise is not just work at reducing the incidents of atrocities against the weaker sections in these identified areas as well as hotspots through crime control, but also to focus on public awareness and speed up all kinds of relief available to such sections under the law."