By E Bhavani, Maria Teresa Raju
At least 20 Dalits, including two children, were injured in the communal attack that took place in Janwada village of Telangana’s Rangareddy district on Tuesday, February 13. A 200-member mob comprising men from the dominant Yadav, Mudiraj, and other Backward Class (BC) groups , allegedly belonging to the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal, attacked Dalits from the Madiga community over a road widening dispute. The attack took place while Dalits were praying in a church. Raising slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, the attackers destroyed the crucifix, chairs, and the roof of the church, the victims said.
According to the police, the Dalit Christians in the village and dominant castes had disagreements over widening a road in the village. According to the Dalits, the road was being laid by encroaching a portion of the church’s land.
On Wednesday, around 7 pm, the concrete cement road (CC) was being laid near the main junction in Janwada village. At the same time, some members of the church, who were praying inside, objected to it saying that the road laying must remain within the existing width.
Provoked by this, Talasari Maisah, former Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) member of the Congress, who is in charge of road laying works, allegedly used casteist slurs and abused the Dalits. Soon, the situation escalated and about 200 men belonging to the dominant caste groups attacked the church, raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram. They picked up the stone gravel used for road construction and threw them at the Dalits in the church, the victims said.
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com. Read the full story here.