Image Courtesy:telegraphindia.com
A day after human rights defenders had protested before the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi, Jharkhand a Dalit man was beaten up allegedly by the block development officer, reported the Telegraph. According to news reports, Ramesh Bhuiyan, 35, a Dalit man from one Shakti village under Dhurki block in Garhwa district, some 270 km from Ranchi, had gone to the block development officer’s (BDO) office on Wednesday to seek land demarcation of his ancestral land.
His fellow villager Pradeep Korwa, told the media that Bhuiyan’s wife “showed us a video which showed the BDO Roushan Kumar hurling expletives at Ramesh and beating him with hands and taking him to the Dhurki police station. This was unacceptable and the villagers unanimously decided to confront the BDO”. The villagers gathered to protest at the BDO office and remained there for nearly five hours, till the Dhurki police station officer-in-charge Sadanand Kumar assured them that a proper investigation would be taken by the district administration against the errant BDO.
According to the report, Dhurki BDO Roushan Kumar refuted the allegation, though it is clearly seen in the video that he slapped Bhuiyan several times. Kumar told the media that he “was holding a meeting with the circle officer and in the meantime, the young man came in and started speaking ‘insanely’. He was told to go out.”
However, Garhwa deputy commissioner Rajesh Kumar Pathak told the media that the allegation will be probed, “I have asked the additional collector Pankaj Kumar to investigate into the incident and submit a report. Departmental action would be taken certainly on the basis of the report of the officer.”
The alleged beating took place a day after nearly 200 human rights defenders including development economist Jean Dreze, under the aegis of Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, had staged a protest near the Raj Bhavan at Ranchi on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum addressed to Governor Ramesh Bais alleging continuation of human rights violation even after a change of government in Jharkhand, reported TT.
Communal violence aside, hate crimes against India’s Dalits (oppressed castes) and Adivasis (indigenous tribal communities) were at a high in 2021 as well. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) had put together a list of these shameful attacks. An interactive infographic, charting the various instances of hate crimes against Dalits and Adivasis may be seen here as well. A cursory glance reveals that caste-based crimes are more rampant and abundant across the nation. Meanwhile, attacks against Adivasis are focused in central India where there has been an increase in awareness about forest rights since the passage of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
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