Amid the political hullabaloo over the increase in cases of crime against Dalits in Haryana, in the wake of killing of two Dalit children in Faridabad and another killing of a minor in Gohana, Chief Minister Manohar lal on Friday said that the State Government will consider constituting a Commission for Scheduled Castes or an independent body to deal with such cases.
“If required, the Government has no problem in constituting a State Commission for Scheduled Castes in the near future, to look into the cases of crime against dalits. At present, a State level committee under a cabinet minister and district level committees for Scheduled Castes are looking into such cases,” said the Chief Minister while talking to The Pioneer.
Manohar lal Khattar-led BJP Government in Haryana had last year scrapped the State Commission for Scheduled Caste, which was constituted by previous Congress Government headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
After scrapping the Commission, the State Government was slammed by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), which had sought explanation from the State Government on the issue and also, recommended constitution of such Commission in Haryana.
When asked about the action taken report sought by NCSC in Faridabad and Gohana incidents, the Chief Minister said, “The State Government is sensitive towards crime cases happening in Haryana and we will take action accordingly.”
Close on the heels of two dalit children being burnt alive at Sunpedh Village in Faridabad, a minor boy, who was charged with theft of a pigeon, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Haryana’s Gohana town on Thursday.
The Dalits (20 per cent) are the second biggest group in population after jats (about 25 per cent) in Haryana but the cases of brutal violence against dalits is a constant phenomenon in Jat land. The acts of violence have risen not just in terms of numbers, but also in intensity in the State.
The 2010 Mirchpur incident, where a 70-year-old Tara Chand and his physically challenged daughter Suman were burnt to death, was also an ugly reflection of longstanding and deep-rooted acrimony between dalits and jats in Haryana.
Unfortunately, as many as 315 cases of atrocities against dalits have been reported to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) from Haryana this year till now. 213 such cases were reported to NCSC in 2014, 105 cases in year 2013 and 110 cases of atrocities against dalits in 2012, as per the data with NCSC.
Not only this, the NCSC Chandigarh region headquarters which also deal with such cases has received 168 cases separate cases of crime against dalits from April till now from Haryana. In 2012-13, 122 such cases were reported to the local NCSC headquarters from Haryana, 247 cases were registered in 2013-14 while 227 cases were reported in 2014-15.
Apart from this, 830 cases of crime against dalits were reported from Haryana in 2014, as per the data of National Crime Records Bureau.
Even as the State Government continues to be in denial mode over the rising number of crime cases against dalits, the statistics with NCSC and NCRB corroborated the same. Notably, the Dalit leaders from Haryana had a day before threatened that if atrocities on dalits continue to happen, they would embrace Buddhism or Islam. Earlier in the month of August, members of dalit community from Bhagana village in Hisar had reportedly converted to Islam protesting against the alleged persecution faced by them at the hands of upper caste Jats.
Meanwhile, amid strong criticism and escalating political pressure over Faridabad and Gohana incidents, the Chief Minister Manohar lal rejected any caste conflict behind the killings and insisted that these cases are the result of family disputes.
“Individual incidents cannot be treated like caste conflict. There is no law and order breakdown in Haryana,” he said. Criticising the Opposition parties in the State for “unnecessarily exaggerating” the issue, the Chief Minister added that the opposition is going out of the way to make it a case of inter-caste violence but these incidents occurred due to family feuds.
However, the Chief Minister’s statement did not go down well with NCSC chairman Pl Punia, who has alleged that the State Government is trying to hush up the matter terming it as a situation arising out of family conflicts.
Hitting out at the State Government, Pl Punia while talking to The Pioneer over phone from New Delhi said, “Haryana Government has failed to protect the dalits in the State. In both, Faridabad and Gohana incident, it is the failure of State Police.”
The Opposition also continued to pitch up the ante against the ruling BJP blaming it for failing to protect the dalit population in the state. Kiran Choudhry, leader of the Haryana Congress legislature Party (ClP) on Friday said, “Earlier the dastardly killing of the son and daughter of a Dalit in Faridabad and now, the death in custody of Govinda proved that the Khattar Government is losing grip over the law-and-order situation in the State. “The Dalits in the State have begun to feel scared but the BJP Government, instead of swinging into action to address their concerns, is busy celebrating one year in office”, she alleged.