Special Correspondent
| Rs. 6,000 each paid as compensation to affected families |
Twelve persons have been arrested in connection with the incident
‘Atrocities against Dalit on the rise in Chamarajanagar district'
MYSORE: Normality returns to Ankahalli village of Gundlupet taluk, where ‘upper caste' persons allegedly torched two huts belonging to Dalits early Friday for complaining to the police about the social boycott imposed on them. The police has arrested 12 persons in connection to the incident.
Chamarajanagar MP R. Dhruvanarayan and Gundlupet MLA H.S. Mahadeva Prasad, who visited the village on Saturday, conducted a peace meeting in the village in which they appealed to both the communities to maintain peace. They also urged to lift the alleged social boycott imposed on the Dalit community. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Prasad said that the Social Welfare Department had issued Rs. 6,000 each as compensation to families of Rachaiah and Chikkasiddaiah, whose houses were torched. “A decision has been taken to reopen the closed unit of LIDKAR to provide employment to members of the Dalit community,” he added.
When contacted, Deputy Superintendent of Police Basavaraj said the situation was completely under control and two platoons of District Armed Reserve (DAR) and 25 police constables were guarding the village.
He said that of the 13 against whom complaints were registered, police had arrested 12 and had already produced them in the court as promised on Saturday. They were later remanded to judicial custody. Meanwhile, upper-caste Hindus have refuted the charge of torching the Dalit huts, claiming the incident happened due to a short circuit.
However, Dalit organisations are not happy with the action taken by the police. Dalit Mahasabha, which is active in the village, has accused police of supporting the ‘upper caste' Hindus for political reasons.
The president of the Mahasabha Vankataramana said the cases of atrocities against Dalits were on a rise, especially in the last two years. “Of the 16 cases of atrocities against Dalits reported in Chamarajanagar district, 10 are from Gundlupet taluk,” he noted.
He alleged that though cases were registered against upper-caste persons in Bommanahalli, Kunugalli, Hasuguli, Siddayyanapura, Kannegala, Malavalli, Belavadi, Karakalamadahalli, Mukti Colony, Sindanapura, Madrahalli, Kundukere and Begaur, nobody had been punished till date. “The incidents are buried in the district itself by releasing compensation through Social Welfare Department. Justice is never given to affected Dalits,” he emphasised.
On the reason for increase in atrocities against Dalits, he noted that educated Dalits were refusing to blindly accept commands of the upper-castes and that had irked them, who have been exploiting them for generations.
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