Demanding suitable, commiserate and transparent action against the erring police officials, including an inspector, reportedly responsible for the public flogging of Muslim youth in Undhela Village of Matar Taluka of Kheda District on October 3-4, 2022, the Minority Coordination Committee, Gujarat (MCC) issues a legal notice to the Gujarat government and demands probe by a retired HC judge.

The legal notice was issued to the chief secretary Gujarat, the additional chief secretary, Gujarat, the director general of police, Gujarat and the superintendant of police, Kheda district and sent by high court advocate, Anand Yagnik. The MCC is a network of citizens working for the rights and welfare of all minorities in the state.

According to newspaper reports, after the public outrage following the public flogging (Kheda Flogging Incident) at Undhelka village, the government was forced to order an inquiry and the Ahmedabad Range IG has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident.

Through the legal notice issued on October 7, MCC through its convenor, Mujahid Nafees, states that such an inquiry into violent police conduct by the police itself (albeit an IG level officer) inspires little confidence as is liable to be biased and hence serious objections have been recorded in the said notice.

“Despite substantive evidence available in public domain about the flogging incident,” states the notice, no action was initiated until an expression of widespread public outrage. This reveals, states the notice that the “entire police force has institutionalized this authoritarian rule and the colonial legacy of taking law’s into one’s own hands and the rest of the force including all higher ups are standing as mute spectators and indirectly approving the atrocities.”

Further the notice states that “though never spoken about but police officers covering up crimes of their colleagues is not unknown to our system. The whole flogging incident of which no cognizance was taken despite of wide reporting and outcry itself shows that the informal code of silence among police officers not to report on a colleague’s misconduct, crimes and brutality persists deeply within the entire system. “

Hence, owing to these circumstances, such an inquiry… conducted by the Ahmedabad Range IG would always hover under the clouds of biasness and the same gives rise to justifiable doubts as to the independence and impartiality of the one conducting the inquiry.”

Hence it is critical for the inquiry to be “impartial, fair and transparent, it is incumbent that the same be done by a retired judge of the Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat.”

This step is critical to instil and re-kindle the faith of the citizenry. In case the government does not respond to the issues in the notice, the MCC will take legal action on the issue.

The legal notice served to the Gujarat government by the MCC may be read here:

Brief background

The shocking incident of public flogging by the police of Muslim youth at Undhela village, located in the Matar taluka of Kheda district in Gujarat, took place on Tuesday, October 4, just a day after an incident of stone pelting was reported at a Garba event in the area.

A video of the flogging went viral on social media, surfacing first on October 4, and in it a man in plainclothes with a gun holstered to his belt, can be seen use a lathi to beat at least four men, one by one. The flogged men then fold their hands appealing to a crowd that appears to be cheering the actions of the cops. Other plainclothes men are then seen leading the beaten men to a police vehicle.

The Indian Express had reported that the man who had wielded the lathi has been identified as Police Inspector AV Parmar. Another man seen removing phones and wallets from the pockets of the flogged men has been identified as DB Kumavat, who is also a policeman working with the LCB. The other two policemen are yet to be named.

Director General of Police (DGP) Ashish Bhatia told IE, “We have ordered an inquiry into the policemen seen in the video. Action will be taken only after the inquiry.” Deputy Superintendent of Police of Kapadvanj taluka, V N Solanki, has been given charge of the investigation. IE quoted him as saying, “I have been handed the probe today. I am yet to look into the details of the video clips.” Meanwhile, the publication says, Parmar and Kumawat remained unavailable for comment.

The incident

The village sarpanch, Indravadan Patel, according to a report in The Indian Express, had organised a garba outside a temple, which faces a mosque and also shares a wall with a madrasa. The village, with a population of about 6,000, is demographically equally divided between the Hindu and Muslim communities, both living in ‘separate, demarcated’ areas. When reporters from the media including the IE visited, most of the houses in the minority area were locked. A few members of the community, mostly women or the elderly, were seen. However, most refused to speak on the incident.

“You should go and ask the sarpanch what happened that night. They have picked up men from our community under various charges and left us alone in such a vulnerable state… Who is responsible for our safety when the police are beating up our men without a proper probe,” said one of the women.

From the other side of the religious divide, Ravindra Patel, a resident, said: “The people of the village gathered at the chowk when they heard that the men who disrupted the garba had been caught. We asked the policemen to teach them a lesson. There are about eight men who always instigate others and threaten us. When the policemen beat them with their lathis, everyone cheered because it was a consolation for what we have been suffering. This is the first time, after so many years of facing intimidation, that we had got justice.”

“We are preparing an application demanding a police chowki in the village. Even before the garba, we had sought police protection because, for several decades, our community has been attacked while celebrating any festival in the chowk. This time, they (accused) did not even spare the policemen,” alleged Shailesh Solanki, a  member belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the Matar taluka panchayat.

Related:

Kheda flogging incident: Assailant identified as cop, colleagues helped him beat four men

Video of Gujarat cops flogging men arrested for ‘rioting’ surfaces, inquiry ordered

When Navratri’s joyous Garba dance becomes a garb for exclusion: Gujarat, MP

The post Appoint retd HC Judge to probe police flogging, police inquiry inspires no faith: MCC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In shocking developments in a recent case of flogging in Gujarat’s Kheda district, the man seen beating up four other men in a viral video, has been identified as a policeman. The three other men seen helping him have also been identified as cops.

According to the Indian Express, they have all been identified as members of the Local Crime Branch (LCB) Unit of the Kheda district. In light of this, Mujahid Nafees, the convenor of Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat, a voluntary organization, has sent a memorandum to the Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, the state DGP and the district police, demanding action against the errant policemen.

The memorandum was in the form of a legal notice and was issued on October 6, through his advocate Anand Yagnik. The Hindu reports that the MCC seeks “appropriate and suitable Departmental, disciplinary, punitive and criminal action against the erring officials forthwith who have openly violated all rights of the victims by way of public flogging.”

Brief background of the case

The incident took place in Undhela village, located in the Matar taluka of Kheda district in Gujarat, on Tuesday, just a day after an incident of stone pelting was reported at a Garba event in the area. The publication reports that while the people flogged and arrested for disrupting the event were not identified, police confirmed that they all hailed from the Muslim community.

A video of the flogging went viral on social media, surfacing first on October 4, and in it a man in plainclothes with a gun holstered to his belt, can be seen use a lathi to beat at least four men, one by one. The flogged men then fold their hands appealing to a crowd that appears to be cheering the actions of the cops. Other plainclothes men are then seen leading the beaten men to a police vehicle.

The Indian Express now reports that the man who wielded the lathi has been identified as Police Inspector AV Parmar. Another man seen removing phones and wallets from the pockets of the flogged men has been identified as DB Kumavat, who is also a policeman working with the LCB. The other two policemen are yet to be named. An enquiry has now been ordered into the matter.

Director General of Police (DGP) Ashish Bhatia told IE, “We have ordered an inquiry into the policemen seen in the video. Action will be taken only after the inquiry.” Deputy Superintendent of Police of Kapadvanj taluka, V N Solanki, has been given charge of the investigation. IE quoted him as saying, “I have been handed the probe today. I am yet to look into the details of the video clips.” Meanwhile, the publication says, Parmar and Kumawat remained unavailable for comment.

The incident

The village sarpanch, Indravadan Patel, according to a report in The Indian Express, had organised the garba outside a temple, which faces a mosque and also shares a wall with a madrasa. The village, with a population of about 6,000, is demographically equally divided between the Hindu and Muslim communities, both living in ‘separate, demarcated’ areas. When reporters from the media including the IE visited, most of the houses in the minority area were locked. A few members of the community, mostly women or the elderly, were seen. However, most refused to speak on the incident.

“You should go and ask the sarpanch what happened that night. They have picked up men from our community under various charges and left us alone in such a vulnerable state… Who is responsible for our safety when the police are beating up our men without a proper probe,” said one of the women.

From the other side of the religious divide, Ravindra Patel, a resident, said: “The people of the village gathered at the chowk when they heard that the men who disrupted the garba had been caught. We asked the policemen to teach them a lesson. There are about eight men who always instigate others and threaten us. When the policemen beat them with their lathis, everyone cheered because it was a consolation for what we have been suffering. This is the first time, after so many years of facing intimidation, that we had got justice.”

“We are preparing an application demanding a police chowki in the village. Even before the garba, we had sought police protection because, for several decades, our community has been attacked while celebrating any festival in the chowk. This time, they (accused) did not even spare the policemen,” alleged Shailesh Solanki, a  member belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the Matar taluka panchayat.

Also read:

Video of Gujarat cops flogging men arrested for ‘rioting’ surfaces, inquiry ordered

When Navratri’s joyous Garba dance becomes a garb for exclusion: Gujarat, MP

The post Kheda flogging incident: Assailant identified as cop, colleagues helped him beat four men appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In the latest of a long list of horrific incidents that reveal the utter absence of any respect for the rule of law, Mukesh Vaniya, a Dalit ragpicker, was lynched over suspicion of theft from a factory. His wife Jaya and aunt Savita were also roughed up by the accused. Four persons were arrested and a minor boy, aged 17 years, was detained on Monday in connection with the incident after a video of the crime — purportedly showing two persons taking turns to beat Vaniya, with a stick while another person holding him by a rope tied to his waist — went viral on social media. 

The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of the media reports. In the notice, the commission observed that, “if true, (the case) raises serious issues of violation of human rights of the victim”. NHRC said in a statement, “it has issued a notice to the chief secretary to the government of Gujarat calling for a report in the matter within four weeks along with measures taken for relief to the affected families”.  The deceased’s wife Jaya has also alleged that the accused hurled caste-based abuses before thrashing them when they refused to clean up garbage from near their factory.

Those arrested in the case include Jaysukh Radadiya (39), owner of Radadiya Industries, his two brothers-in-law Chirag Vitthal Vora (28) and Divyesh Kishorebhai Vora (32) and his associate Tejas Kanubhai Zala (29). All have been booked under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (armed with deadly weapon) and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act. They have been remanded to police custody till May 25. The police has predictably given out a version that gives a protection (of sorts to the accused): the police have said that the accused suspected Vaniya and his family members to be thieves!

Vaniya and his family had migrated from Parnala village in Limbdi taluka of Surendranagar to Rajkot last week in search of employment. He is survived by his wife Jaya and two children — a four-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter.
 
Commenting on the NHRC notice, chief secretary JN Singh said, “NHRC has instructed us to file action taken report in Shapar case. Accused have been arrested and compensation disbursed as per norms. All immediate required action has been taken.”

Related articles:

1. A Video Again, Shows Dalit Couple Tied Up, Flogged, Man Dies: Gujarat

The post Notice to Gujarat over Dalit Man’s Lynching: NHRC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

1. A Dalit couple in Gujarat allegedly beaten; husband dies, wife is critical
2. Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani tweeted the video, allegedly from Rajkot
3. Five people have reportedly been caught

The mercilessly beating, to death of a Dalit man, bound by ropes around his waist, is the latest incident, video-taped and circulated, revealing again how media is being used to spread news about crude violence. The video clip allegedly from Gujarat’s Rajkot district. The man died after the savage beating that took place reportedly on the orders of an auto-parts factory owner, according to the police complaint. His wife was allegedly beaten up too.

The man, identified as Mukesh Vaniya, winces and screams as he is flogged by two men in the disturbing footage tweeted this morning by Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani.

“Mr Mukesh Vaniya belonging to a scheduled caste was miserably thrashed and murdered by factory owners in Rajkot and his wife was brutally beaten up,” he tweeted with the hashtag #GujaratIsNot Safe4Dalits.

Five people, including the factory owner, have been arrested on charges of murder and under the law on atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. “We have arrested five people, including the factory owner. I cannot reveal his name yet as it’s not mentioned in the FIR (first information report). A murder case has been filed under the SC/ST Act and a deputy rank officer will probe the case,” Rajkot senior police officer Shruti Mehta said.

On Sunday morning, Mukesh Vaniya and his wife, both rag-pickers, were using magnets to look for scrap when some factory workers confronted them, accusing them of theft. The woman escaped to get help from their village nearby. By the time she returned with some people, Vaniya was prone on the ground. He was pronounced dead in the hospital.

Jignesh Mevani’s post describes the incident as “worse than the 2016 Una attack“, in which four Dalits were stripped and thrashed by cow vigilantes while they were skinning a cow that had been electrocuted.

“This is a far more gruesome incident than Una. In Una, the victims were beaten up and humiliated. Whereas, here a man lost his life amidst caste violence… The government of Gujarat has still not learned from its past mistakes,” Mr Mevani wrote on Facebook.

The Una incident provoked protests by the community and led to the prominence of Dalit leaders like Jignesh Mevani, who contested and won in the Gujarat election last year.

The post A Video Again, Shows Dalit Couple Tied Up, Flogged, Man Dies: Gujarat appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Meawhile the commission has also ordered an inquiry into the high rate of child mortality at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital in October last year. Moreover, in the matter pertaining to cases manual scavenging deaths, where the state records a worrisome figure of 161, NHRC member Jyotika Kalra said, “The state government has assured Rs 10 lakh compensation for each of the 40 victims who died after 2014.”

The commission said that of the 17.5 lakh human rights cases across the country since the inception of the NHRC, Gujarat has reported 26,500 cases.
 

The post NHRC finds Untouchability and Caste Based Atrocities still rampant in Gujarat appeared first on SabrangIndia.