Thursday, January 27, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Dalits leave village fearing Jat threat

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/haryana/Dalits-leave-village-fearing-Jat-threat/Article1-655145.aspx

Dalits leave village fearing Jat threat
Indo-Asian News Service
Mirchpur, January 27, 2011
First Published: 11:06 IST(27/1/2011)

Nearly a dozen Dalit families have left this village in the last 15
days as last year's violence in Mirchpur has come back to haunt them.
It was here that a 70-year-old and his physically-challenged daughter
were killed in an attack by the dominant Jat community. The fear of
violence from Jats, who
have over the past 12 days staged protests demanding the release of
those arrested for the incident in April 2010, looms over Dalit
families here despite repeated assurances from the state government
and police.

"The state government has failed to punish the culprits accused of an
arson attack on Dalit families in April last year. The government is
playing votebank politics and does not want to offend the Jat
community as they are in a majority in Haryana," Gulab Singh, a Dalit
resident of Mirchpur village, told IANS.

Around 300 Dalit families, among the most socio-economically
marginalised people, live in Mirchpur.

"We have lost all faith in the police and the government. Leave aside
the question of staying in Mirchpur, we do not want to live anywhere
in Haryana. We make an appeal before the government to rehabilitate us
somewhere outside this state," stated Singh.

Mirchpur village in Hisar district hit the headlines last year when
some people from the dominant upper caste Jat community set fire to a
row of houses belonging to Dalit families.

A 70-year-old man and his 18-year-old physically-challenged daughter
were killed in the April 21 arson attack and at least 18 houses were
destroyed. Around 150 Dalit families were driven out of the village,
about 300 km from Chandigarh, and their homes were torched.

"We are still getting threats from Jats. They are pressurising us to
take back our complaints," Sheela, another Dalit, who is camping
outside Mirchpur village with her family, told IANS.

"The government is not doing enough for our security and we have
decided to leave Hisar district. Our children are also afraid of
working in places where they have Jat colleagues."

"We are afraid caste violence will raise its head in our village
again," said Sheela.

In the Mirchpur violence case, 98 Jat youths were arrested and are in
jail in New Delhi. The trial of the case was shifted to New Delhi in
December following the directions of the Supreme Court.

Jat community members have staged widespread protests in various parts
of Haryana, demanding the release of the arrested youths and shifting
of the case back to Hisar.

"If the Jats claim they are innocent, then why are they demanding the
shifting of the case from New Delhi to Hisar. We want our government
to take a stern stand," asked Sheela.

Ved Pal Tanwar, a representative of the Non-Jat Association, Haryana,
told IANS, "So far the state government has failed to ensure the
safety of the Dalit families of Mirchpur. They have given only verbal
assurances of safety and jobs, but actually nothing has happened. They
are left with no option than to leave Mirchpur."

"We have made staying arrangements for nearly a score of Dalit
families outside Hisar district as they are afraid of the Jats. We are
planning to launch a widespread campaign to save the rights and
dignity of Haryana's Dalits," said Tanwar.

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