Dalit officer retires, 3 held for ‘purifying’ his office

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Thiruvananthapuram, April 21, 2011
The Kerala police on Wednesday arrested three officials of the state registration department for cleansing the office of the inspector general of registrar with cow dung and water. Former inspector-general of registration AK Ramakrishnan had complained last week that a section of officials had clean

sed his office and official car after his retirement from the service on March 31.

Hailing from a scheduled caste community, he had complained that the ritual was held to ‘purify’ the office premises after his exit.

Blaming the department officials, he said they bore a personal grudge against him as he refused to bend on several occasions. Since he was a Dalit, the ritual was held to insult his dignity, he added.

The Kerala state human rights commission has sought a detailed report from the state registrar general. The national scheduled caste commission has also sought a report from the state.

“On the day of my retirement, some officials burst crackers and distributed sweets in the office. The next day office furniture and car were cleansed with dung and water,” he said. For Hindus cow dung is sacred and they believe that it has got some purifying properties.

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Three held for ''cleansing'' retired dalit officer''s room

PTI | 02:04 PM,Apr 21,2011

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 21 (PTI) Three government employees were arrested in connection with an alleged 'cleansing act' in which cowdung water was sprinkled in the room and on the furniture used by a senior official belonging to a scheduled caste community. The alleged cleansing was carried out at the Registration office following the retirement of Inspector General of Registration, A K Ramakrishnan on March 31. Ramakrishnan has approached the Human Rights Commission seeking a probe into the matter. A Junior Superintendent at sub-registrar office, an Upper Division clerk at the Registration IG's office and a class four staff have been arrested in this connection, police said today. The three employees were not in good terms with Ramakrishnan and their action was due to personal enmity, they added. Ramakrishnan in his petition had stated that the 'cleansing' was performed as he belonged to an SC community and it amounted to violation of his human rights and civil liberties. Meanwhile,the government has decided to appoint V K Balakrishnan as Registration IG in place of the person who was holding charge of the post now.

Retired Dalit officer’s car and furniture ‘cleansed’

The Kerala Human Rights Commission has registered a case and sought an explanation from the secretary, taxes department, after the office and car used by a Scheduled Caste state government officer was allegedly cleansed with cowdung after his retirement from service.

Former Inspector General of Registration A K Ramakrishnan, who retired on March 31, petitioned the rights panel, saying the “inhumane behaviour” had insulted him and all backward communities. The panel has sought a report by May 7.

Ramakrishnan said the incident took place on April 1, after the new IG assumed office. On the first day, a section of officials reportedly sprayed cowdung-mixed water on the office furniture, the threshold and the official vehicle. Ramakrishnan claimed that in order to refute allegations that this was done because he was a Dalit, cowdung-water was sprayed in the entire office the next day.

Ramakrishnan said a section of officials had borne a grudge against him since he took over five years ago, and cracked down on some of them. “That might have provoked a section in the office. On the day I retired, there had been celebrations by bursting crackers,” he said.

Calling it an insult to the SC community and a violation of their human rights, Ramakrishnan said if a senior officer could be treated like this, one could well imagine what officials at junior levels might be facing.

In a similar incident in November 2010, the chamber of the panchayat president at Elanthur had been found cleansed with cowdung-water after the president belonging to the SC community demitted office.