Rise in atrocities against dalits in Haryana shows lack of cop action
Punjab: If the FIRs lodged by Haryana police are to be believed, cases of atrocities against dalits in the state have increased in the past four years. The conviction rate in these years remained very poor apart from decline in chargesheets submitted by police to courts after probe.
According to National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) member Ishwar Singh, the number of FIRs increased to 257 in 2013 from 238 in 2010 in cases related to atrocities against dalits, including rape and murder. However, chargesheets went down to 146 in 2013 from 170 four years back, he added.
“It shows lack of action on the part of police. There are 40 lakh dalits in Haryana, while Punjab has 70 lakh. But it appears that Haryana has more cases of dalit atrocities,” alleged Ishwar, a former Rajya Sabha member.
Haryana DGP S N Vashisht, though, said the increase in number of FIRs doesn’t necessarily indicate rise in crimes against SCs. “We lodge FIRs as soon as we receive any complaint and ensure a fair probe,” he claimed.
Ishwar also claimed that dalits even face discrimination in promotions and postings in government jobs, saying the government had recently shifted the lone superintendent of police (SP) from dalit community from a district. “The state government has failed to clear the backlog of vacancies for SC category in government jobs despite its promise to fill 10,000 posts by January. How would it fill these posts in a short span of time before the assembly polls?”
He also criticized the authorities for giving 100 square yard plots each to dalits away from villages. “If land for plots to dalits is not available near the villages, government should acquire it like it does for Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) sectors. In some villages, plots have been allotted to dalits at the site of ponds,” he claimed.
Referring to his village in Kaithal district, the former Congress leader said, “Even in my village, a liquor vend had been opened near the dalit colony. But I would ensure it is shifted soon.”
Giving reasons behind atrocities on dalits, Poonam Chand Ratti, former leader of safai karamcharis (sanitation workers), said people from upper castes were not ready to take assertion among the disadvantaged sections. “Unfortunately, there is no social movement to bridge the gap between upper castes and SCs,” he added.
However, a senior Jat leader Sube Singh Samain claims that cases of personal disputes are projected as atrocities on a particular community for political gains. “There are stringent provisions in the law to protect dalits so nobody can dare to harass them on the name of caste,” he maintained.
Source: The Times of India
