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Horror tales of atrocities

Staff Reporter

Public hearing on untouchability organised in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Ever since Chand Muni's son and her three nephews belonging to the Nat community were beaten to death for allegedly stealing buffaloes in Ara village of Bihar, the lives of Muni and her daughter-in-law have gone from bad to worse. The shopkeepers in the village refuse to give them ration, their house was burnt down, and no compensation has come their way.

"We have met all the leaders and have come to Delhi to meet the leaders here," said a teary-eyed Muni as she broke down while narrating her tale at the two-day Indian People's Tribunal on Untouchability that began here on Saturday.

The public hearing on untouchability and Dalit atrocities has been organised by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights and Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) along with 56 organisations. Dalits from across the country narrated tales of discrimination in villages, rape of Dalit women, denial of access to common land and resources, physical violence and torture and discrimination in educational institutions perpetrated by non-Dalits and upper caste people.

"My husband was promised a job and taken away. He was abused by his caste name and then they chopped off his ears with a blade," narrated Paan Bai, wife of Phoolchand Ahirwar from Chhanbilla in Madhya Pradesh. The three accused, two belonging to the Yadav community and another a Brahmin, continue to threaten her and her family, said Paan Bai. With her husband unable to work, she runs the family by rolling beedis.

Sheikh Ahmeddudin in his account of the recent Nandigram killings said 12 of the 17 people killed in the firing were Dalits. "More than 80 per cent of the people in these villages were Dalits and Muslims. The schools have been closed for over four months, people do not sleep in the night, bombings take place often and there are no employment opportunities," said Ahmeddudin.

Ajay Kumar Singh, a student of medicine at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here, alleged that caste discrimination at the institute began with the ragging sessions.

A panel comprising eminent jurists and social activists heard the cases.

"Contrary to public perception that untouchability has been eradicated, it is expanding and is prevalent in 50 per cent of the villages in India," said HRLN founder member Colin Gonsalves.

According to Mr. Gonsalves, a national "andolan" to eradicate untouchability has been launched and public interest litigations will be filed in the High Courts wherever the practice is prevalent.

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