NEW DELHI: Demanding a high-level inquiry into the alleged burning and ransacking of Dalit houses by a group of Rajput men in Salwan village of Haryana a couple of days ago, social activists and political leaders charged here on Saturday that the attack was "planned."

Accusing the police and administration of inaction and apathy towards Dalits, the fact-finding team of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), that visited the village on Friday, claimed that nearly 200 houses were destroyed in the arson and that the situation was still very "tense."

Late action

"The police reached the spot three hours after the incident. Our team found that approximately 20 to 25 Dalits, including women and children, were injured in the incident. A large number of them had already fled from the village one night before the attack since they expected reprisal from the Rajputs," said Tanveer Kazi, national secretary of the NCDHR, at a press conference on Saturday.

He also alleged that their team received information that one Dalit youth was allegedly murdered in the same village on Friday night.

On Thursday afternoon, a group of Rajput men had allegedly burnt houses of Dalits in Salwan, about 45 km from Karnal in Haryana, after a farmer belonging to an upper caste was allegedly killed by the shepherds of the village.

The NCDHR team has also accused block Samiti chairman Surjit Pradhan and a local school teacher of leading the mob that attacked the Dalit basti.

"Atrocities on Dalits have been on the rise in Haryana and the police and the administration have been mere spectators in all these cases. We want to know where the police was when an armed mob of 5,000 people attacked the houses of Dalits? And what about those who have fled their homes out of fear? Have the authorities even tried to find out where they have gone or if they were dead or alive?" asked Vimal Thorat, co-convener, NCDHR.

"The relief and rehabilitation for the victims is also not adequate. There have been no arrangements from the Government's side to make the Dalits feel safe and secure. The situation in Salwan is still very tense," she added.

Urging Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to look into the matter, social activist Swami Agnivesh said: "Though the farmer was murdered on February 26, it was only after three days that his community retaliated. The phone lines were snapped and electricity supply was cut off on Thursday. This proves that the attack against Dalits was pre-planned and organised with an aim to destroy their property."

Socialist leader Surendra Mohan demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident and said caste violence was as grave as communal violence and the Government must take measures to contain it.

The NCDHR has also demanded payment of immediate and enhanced compensation to all victims and demanded that Haryana be declared a "Dalit atrocity-prone State''.

In a release issued by the National Alliance of People's Movements, social activist Medha Patkar hit out at the administration for "suppressing the incident" and pressed for immediate action against the culprits.

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