The highest human rights body in the country advised the Director General of Police in UP to file a report regarding the incident on July 2, 2017, when 45 Dalit activists associated with Navsarjan Trust in Gujarat had been detained at Jhansi railway station while on their way to Lucknow to protest against UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has given Uttar Pradesh DGP until May 5 to submit a report in the alleged illegal detention of Dalit activists from Gujarat at Jhansi in 2017, Ahmedabad Mirror reported.
“The highest human rights body in the country advised the Director General of Police in UP to file a report regarding the incident on July 2, 2017, when 45 Dalit activists associated with Navsarjan Trust in Gujarat had been detained at Jhansi railway station while on their way to Lucknow to protest against UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. They were sent back to Gujarat next day,” the report said.
A reminder to this effect had also been sent to the DGP earlier on December 20, 2018. However, no reply was filed. The NHRC has in continuation of the proceedings, sent another reminder on March 12 to the DGP and Chief Secretary of UP to submit a report of the incident.
The reminder came with a stern warning that in the ordinary course, the commission would have issued summons to the DGP to make a personal appearance. However, the NHRC was granting the police official one more opportunity to file a report in the matter. On July 13, 2018, Ahmedabad Mirror had reported that NHRC had directed the UP DGP to hand over probe of human rights violation in the case to Central Branch CID.
Navsarjan trust is Gujarat’s largest Dalit rights non-profit organisation. Martin Macwan, Dalit human rights activist and Founder-Member of the Navsarjan Trust released his book ‘Bhed-Bharat’ recently. Macwan is the editor of the book and it provides a searing account of atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis between the years 2014 and 2018.