By Vivek Gupta
Chandigarh: On September 11, Gurmeet (22), a resident of Chattar village in Haryana’s Jind district, went to nearby Gogriya village to watch a Kabaddi match. He is from a Dalit community.
He was hounded by a group of upper-caste Jat men of his village. One of them teased him with a casteist slur and asked why he had come to watch the game.
They got into a scuffle, after which he hurriedly left the venue and later filed a complaint at the Uchana police station.
Two days later, on September 13, police booked one Rajesh under section 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (for abusing any member of a Scheduled Caste community), and sections 3(2)(va) (for committing an offence against person knowing that such person was a member of from Scheduled Caste community), and section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
Sushil Kumar, Gurmeet’s neighbour, told The Wire that after the police case, the upper-caste men along with panchayat members constantly pressured him to withdraw the case.
“At least 150 Dalit families live in this village at Mohalla Mangu Bagad. Often, panchayat members would visit us and build pressure. At one point, we somehow thought of withdrawing the case if the accused promised an unconditional apology, which he denied,” Sushil said.
Later, things only became worse, he explained. On September 26, a panchayat was called by the influential people who passed a diktat for the social boycott of all Dalit families living in the area. They said that anybody who offers help to the Dalits, by giving them ration, vegetables, milk, medicines, or even involved in any other dealings with them, would be fined Rs 11,000.
“It has been nearly three weeks that we are living a hell-like life with little help from the local administration,” he said.
He further said that the boycott call had a cascading effect. “My uncle who was running a grocery shop on rent in the village was thrown out. I am a plumber but unable to find enough work in the village.”
“Grocery stores are not giving us rations, medicines and other daily necessities. So much so, we are denied transportation in autos parked outside the village.”
“We are paying a price to fight for our dignity. Were we wrong to fight when a boy from our community was chastised because of his caste? When we fought for justice, we were socially boycotted by the upper-caste people to teach us a lesson,” he added.
‘Situation hasn’t improved despite police intervention’
Only when the matter received media attention, the Uchana Police on October 13 registered a second first information report (FIR) and booked 23 persons of the village under the SC/ST Act. Among them is a former sarpanch of the village.
The copy of the latest FIR is yet to be uploaded on the Haryana police’s website as, according to police, the matter is still sensitive, Uchana deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jitender Singh told The Wire, adding that the “rumours of social boycotting” has been going around in the village since the last week of September.
“When the matter first came to our knowledge, I along with the sub-divisional magistrate visited the village to investigate the ground situation. But we did not find any evidence of social boycotting. Even the panchayat denied issuing any boycott order. However, the rumours of social boycotting did not stop,” the DSP said.
“We later received a complaint alleging social boycott by a shopkeeper on the direction of the panchayat and other members of the village. A total of 23 names were mentioned in the complaint. All have been booked under section 3 of the SC/ST Act in an FIR registered on October 13 and further investigation is underway.”
He claimed that the situation was ‘peaceful’
“We have made a public announcement in the village that strict legal action will be taken against those denying ration or practising social boycott,” he said.
A group of panchayat members had also released a statement two days ago, claiming that the charge of social boycott of the Dalit community in the village is “baseless”. “No one is denying any basic necessities to them. Everyone is living here with peace and harmony.”
However, members of the Dalit community claim that the reality is very different from what is being projected. The situation has not improved despite police intervention.
Naresh, another member of the Dalit community of Mohalla Mangu Bagad, told The Wire that when the media and police visit the village, villagers start behaving as if there is no social boycott. The moment they leave, the boycott is resumed.
“There is a clear announcement by the influential class of the village that the boycott would continue till the police case registered on Gurmeet’s complaint is withdrawn,” said Naresh.
He further said, “We are not only denied daily ration but also prohibited from going to other places in the village. The farmers are not able to go to the field. The vegetable sellers are not coming to our locality. Even the doctors are not giving medicines to the sick.”
Prakash, another member of the Dalit community, told The Wire that the atmosphere in the village is such that Gurmeet is considered to be the person who committed a crime by registering a case against a member of the upper-caste community.
“On the contrary, it was Gurmeet who faced harassment and was even assaulted just because he is a Dalit. When he filed a police case, this angered the upper-caste people so much so that they announced our social boycott,” he said.
Dinesh, an activist from nearby Khapar village, has sent a written complaint to the chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, demanding serious action against the culprits and justice for the Dalit families.
‘Facing constant threats to withdraw complaint’
Gurmeet told The Wire that he has been facing constant threats ever since a case was registered on his complaint on September 11.
“I have already filed as many as four complaints to the local police with clear details of threat calls that I got on my mobile number. The last complaint was filed on October 6. But there has been no action so far,” he claimed.
He said that the media is highlighting his voice but he has no faith in the administration.
“Instead of helping me, pressure is being built on me to withdraw the case. But I know that even if I take it back, they will not leave me easily. I will be on their target list. It is better I fight for justice,” he said.”
He said: “I had gone just to watch a Kabaddi match. I was hounded there and [the upper-caste men] made me realise that people like me have no place among rich and influential people.
“It is not that I did not try to compromise. Soon after I was assaulted and vilified with casteist remarks, 15-20 influential people of the village came to my house and forced me to take the complaint back.”
He added, “At that time, I was ready [to take the complaint back] under family pressure. But the next day, some of the people who had assaulted me suddenly barged into my house and started abusing me in the presence of my sisters and other family members. My question is, don’t I have the right to live with dignity? When I filed the complaint, everyone came after me as if I had done something wrong. Now they are victimising my whole community.”
This story first appeared on thewire.in