Modi rule has unleashed repression and atrocities on dalits, adivasis, women and Muslims. The latest such episode has been the incident of brutal stripping and thrashing of dalit youths in Gujarat, and the incidents of Chikmagaluru (Karnataka) where cow-vigilantes beat up Dalits and Tirunelveli (Tamilnadu) with casteist and Hindutva elements beheaded a CPI(ML) comrade.
The 11 July incident of Mota Samadhiyala village of Una town in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat was a case of atrocity against dalits on the pretext of ‘cow protection’. In this village with a population of 3000, there are just 26-27 dalit households, most of them surviving on agricultural labour which generally earns them Rs. 100-150 per day in the seasons when their labour is required by the land holders. There are a few educated youth from among dalit families too. Only one family now continues with the traditional work of skinning of the dead animals. This family used to earn Rs. 150-200 for the skinning of a dead cow. It was members of this family that were the victims of the atrocity.
The Incident:
7 members of the family of Balubhai Veerabhai Sarvaiya were severely brutalised and publicly beaten up by the members of so-called Gau Rakshak Dal (Cow Protection Gang) on 11 July. These Dalit young men had been called by a farmer to dispose of the remains of two dead cows that had been probably been mauled to death by a lion.
Nearly 35-40 people who were led by Najabhai Danabhai Beria of a nearby village accused them “Tum jinda gaay ko katate ho, tumhe nahin chhorenge” (you slaughter live cows, we won’t spare you), stripped them and beat them up with pipes for 3-4 hours. The entire beating was video-taped by the assailants and uploaded online as a ‘warning’ – standard practice of the Gau Raksha Dals. The incident was reported to the Una police within five minutes of the beginning of the beating, but the police took no action and let the brutality continue.
After beating them for nearly four hours the perpetrators of ‘Gau Rakshak Dal’ who are associated with the RSS and Shiv Sena according to the villagers, forcibly took all the victims towards Una town. As they passed the village boundary there was a police team who shook hands with the perpetrators in a congratulatory way. Mota Samadhiyala village is 17-18 kilometers from Una, but the police team took 3-4 hours to reach Una only to shake hands with the ‘Gau Rakshaks’.
The victims were taken to Una at a place just in front of the police station where they were tied to a Xylo car which dragged them for a fairly long distance along the road. Their beatings continued even in front of the police station. At the police station, the police detained the victims for several hours, and made no attempt to detain the assailants. Eventually when an FIR was lodged, the police named only 6 of the 35-40 perpetrators.
The visit of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel angered the dalit villagers of Mota Samadhiyala especially, because the CM and her team sat on chairs specially hired for them, while the dalit villagers sat on the floor at a distance! She had announced for Rs. 4 lakh compensation for each victim; by 24 July 7 persons got a payment of Rs. 1 lakh each instead of the whole amount, as if the government was doing a favour to the dalit victims.
Balubhai Veerabhai Sarvaiya has a head injury by the iron pipes used in the attack. Vasrambhai, Rameshbhai, Ashokbhai and Vaijalbhai have now been admitted in a hospital in Rajkot which is 200 km from Mota Samadhiyala.
After the wave of revolt and resistance by the Dalits of Gujarat – who threw cow carcasses in Government offices and said ‘Let the Cow Protectors take care of their ‘mother” – only 17 persons out of 35-40 perpetrators have been arrested. A whole police thana witnessed the atrocity – but only three policemen have been suspended. Moreover, out of 17 arrested, charges have been filed against only 6 persons under Sections 307, 395, 324, 323, 504, Gujarat Police Act, 135 IPC and Section 3 (2)(5) of SC/ST Atrocities Act.
Notable among the protests in Gujarat was the Dhikkar Rally (Condemnation Rally) in Prime Minister Modi’s home district which condemned Modi for his silence on anti-Dalit atrocities. All over Gujarat, Muslim people and groups have joined the Dalit protests against cow-vigilantism and casteist atrocities.
All these protests and rallies demanded an immediate ban on cow vigilantism and organisations like Gau Rakshak Dals. People are also demanding the resignation of the Anandiben government of Gujarat whose rhetoric of ‘development’ has become synonymous with the repression of dalit, adivasis, women and all oppressed sections.
A team comprised of CPI(ML) Politburo member Prabhat Kumar, All India Rural and Agricultural Labour Association (AIRLA) national President and ex-Member of Parliament Rameshwar Prasad, AIPF’s Tushar Parmar, National Secretary of Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) Amit Patanwadia and Abhishek Parmar of Black Panther visited Mota Samadhiyala village on 24 July and met the victims and their families.
The team has demanded that the Gujarat government (1) ban ‘Gau Rakshak Dals’ and similar organisations throughout the state; (2) All the police personnel and officers of Gir-Somnath District involved in the incident must immediately be suspended and be charged under SC/ST Atrocities Act. (3 identify and arrest all the attackers based on the video footage and ensure a fast track trial (4) proper compensation, best medical treatment, and full security to all the victims and their families.
This team also joined a protest demonstration in Chandkhera in Ahmedabad organised by various dalit organisations where people signed on a 56-yards long cloth (mocking the Modi’s tall talk of 56″ chest).
