Filed on behalf of dam oustees, the petition was heard by the Supreme Court bench comprising judges NV Ramanna and Ajay Rastogi. The next nearing has been fixed for September 26. Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh told the court that the arbitrary manner in which the dam was allowed to be filled up contradicts the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) award, as also Supreme Court orders of 2000 and 2005.

Pointing out that the central agency Narmada Control Authority (NCA) allowed the Gujarat authorities to fill up the dam up to FRL, Parikh asserted, little has been done to rehabilitate the oustees, adding NCA even changed the timesheet in order to fill up the dam by September 17. As a result, thousands of families’ homes, fields, religious places, innumerable trees, pastures, shops, schools, government buildings etc. have been drowned. Advocate Abhimanyu Shrestha assisted in the petition.

Courtesy: Counter View

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Patkar says, while the Madhya Pradesh government has admitted that the total number of villages that would face submergence is 178, it has refused to provide the number of oustees who would suffer. Also, it has refused to press upon the Gujarat government to reimburse Rs 1,857 crore for rehabilitating the oustees. Several letters on this and related issues have been forwarded to the Centre and Gujarat, but these have not been made public, keeping the oustees in the dark.

Text:

We know that you have been taking a stand against the Gujarat government, which is getting support from the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) to fill up the Sardar Sarovar dam up to the full reservoir level (FRL) of 138.68 metres during this monsoon. There is no doubt that this is necessary, considering the interests of the thousands of oustees in Madhya Pradesh.

However, as I stated in the meeting with the Madhya Pradesh chief secretary on August 24, 2019, we have intensely felt that the letter by the chief secretary to NCA on this issue, dated May 27, 2019, has quoted wrong figures and underestimated the scale of submergence.

The figure of 76 villages and 6,000 families to be affected by submergence at FRL of the Sardar Sarovar dam, i.e., 138.68 metres, is the figure of just one district, Dhar, and this excludes the three other districts, Alirajpur, Badwani and Khargon.

You may now note that the officials who might have briefed you, as well as the chief secretary, the minister concerned and the chief minister, have offered you wrong figures, something you have now accepted. The number of affected villages has been finally put at 178. However, no final figures of the affected families has been announced. Your have, however, admitted that the earlier surveys of many places might have been flawed, and hence are pending review.

May I ask you, the chief secretary, as well as the chief minister, whether you have written a single letter to NCA, as also the secretary, Union water resources ministry, and the Union minister concerned, quoting actual facts that would bring out the formidable scale of impact of submergence, compelling the authorities to review their decision?

If yes, will you kindly forward a copy to me of the any such letter/s, and if not, will you kindly ensure that these letters are sent?
 

 

I am shocked about what you have written a letter recently to NCA regarding water levels. You have questioned the NCA decision to take the water level in the dam to 134.50 metres by August 31. But you have not said anything about what water levels should be maintained during the month of September.

Is this, may I ask, your strongest possible argument in order to protect the interest of the oustees, who are in thousands? Don’t you think that the issue that needs to be raised should be more basic, especially focusing on the unjustifiable decision to raise the water level beyond 122 metres in order to avoid the submergence of property of the Narmada project affected families without full and proper rehabilitation, as it would violate law, policy as well as the fundamental human and Constitutional rights?

As you are aware, the Central ministry and NCA are depending their facts and figures on the basis of false affidavits filed by the former government of Madhya Pradesh showing zero balance in rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) during 2008-2016, which needed to be strongly challenged and rejected by taking a firm and fact-based position. The new state government and your department, as well as the Narmada minister, should have done this.

There are also many other points that were conveyed to you, the chief minister, and the minister in your presence, which can form a relevant basis for questioning and taking up issue of filling up the dam’s reservoir. For example, the Government of Gujarat has still not provided to you the required reimbursement of Rs 1,857 crore, which is mandatory as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Award (NWDTA). It is unfortunate that this demand was put up as late as in July 2019.

Worse, this demand, as well as failure to get any response on this and other issues, have not been put  in the public domain, which is surprising in the present situation of the devastating impact on the people, communities, and the natural ecosystem, including livelihood of farmers and other sections in the Sardar Sarovar dam-affected people.

I am writing this letter to you because I think that you should make a final scrutiny of facts and positions being taken up at your end before any briefing takes place at the level of the chief secretary or the chief minister.

I would like you to play a major role in putting together all the relevant and reliable facts that would help in carving out a clear and confident position on the part of the State government against the filling up of the Sardar Sarovar reservoir.

As you know, if this does not happen at a war-footing, nothing less than watery grave awaits the communities living in the upstream of the dam, and the State government will be held responsible for the role it is expected to play and legal mandate it should follow in the interests of the project affected families.

Courtesy: CounterView

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CM Raman Singh
 

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After National Herald reported on Monday, July 30 that Samajwadi Party MP Neeraj Shekhar’s question related to amount of demonetisation had gone missing from the Rajya Sabha website, the same was uploaded again on the website on Monday evening, along with the reply (see below).

In his query, Shekhar had asked what amount of banned ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes had been deposited or exchanged at the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank—which has Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah as its director—in the five days post demonetisation, and if the authorities had launched any probe into the alleged “huge deposits”.

The answer to the ‘unstarred question’ by the Finance Ministry confirms the information disclosed by Mumbai-based activist Manoranjan S Roy’s RTI application, stating that that ADCB had collected the highest number of demonetised notes among DCCBs in just five days after the note ban was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016.

“As per the information provided by NABARD, highest amount of demonetised notes was deposited in the Ahmedabad District Co-operative Bank Ltd to the tune of ₹745.5 crore,” the Finance Ministry’s reply read. Normally replies to the questions are uploaded on the Rajya Sabha website on the same day as they are tabled. However, the reply to this question—’unstarred’ question number 668—was not uploaded till Monday and the question had been removed from several sections of the website.

Reacting to the development, Manoranjan S Roy alleged: “The way the question was removed from the website and then the reply had to be uploaded, it indicates that the BJP government has a lot to answer. It only confirms that several BJP leaders including the party president have been direct beneficiaries of the demonetisation that helped them convert black money into white.”

Samajwadi MP Neeraj Shekhar: “I have no idea why did they remove the answer from the (Rajya Sabha) website and at whose behest. I had asked the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to restore the reply and they had assured me that it would get restored”

Son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, Neeraj Shekhar told the National Herald that he came to know of the disappearance of the question on the website on Sunday and inquired about it with the Question Branch of the Rajya Sabha. “I have no idea why did they remove the answer from the (Rajya Sabha) website and at whose behest. I had asked the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to restore the reply and they had assured me that it would get restored.”

“Other replies to uncomfortable questions should also be uploaded on the website. The information regarding such issues must be there in the public domain. People have every right to know in a democratic country,” added Shekhar.

“Income Tax Department (ITD) has taken suitable action as per law against persons found to be involved in making unaccounted deposits, post-demonetisation, in various banks including, inter alia, cooperative banks,” the reply stated in response to another query, before adding that “during the period November 2016 to March, 2017, ITD conducted searches in 900 groups, involved in various activities and business, leading to seizure of ₹900 crores, including cash seizure of ₹636 crores.”

“The questions were deliberately taken off from the website and then the answers were uploaded after hue and cry was raised over it,” Shekhar said, adding that the Modi government was allegedly trying to avoid making some information public ahead of 2019 elections.

“The ‘unstarred’ questions are meant for public consumption as the MPs cannot ask any supplementary questions on that. Though I have already got the reply from the government, but they (officials) did not give any satisfactory answer as to who asked it to be removed from the website. The Question Branch said the replies are uploaded by the respective ministries and they would ask the ministry to upload it,” Shekhar added.

“The questions were deliberately taken off from the website and then the answers were uploaded after hue and cry was raised over it,” Shekhar said, adding that the Modi government was allegedly trying to avoid making some information public ahead of 2019 elections.

However, the officials at the Rajya Sabha Question Branch said it were the respective ministries that upload the questions/replies and the delay in uploading sometimes happen due to “technical reasons”. “These days a new system is being adopted where a person can upload the replies through a link. But to open that link, one needs an OTP (one-time password). Sometimes the OTP may be delayed or there could be other technical glitches,” said the official who did not wish to be named.

Another reply by the Finance Ministry to Shekhar’s question regarding the details of black money brought back from foreign countries since 2014 till July 15, 2018, stated that “the year-wise and country-wise details of the black money, as sought for, are not maintained.”

Meanwhile, the reply to another question put up by BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra Amar Shankar Sable, bearing registration number 714 has also been uploaded on the website.

Sable had asked state-wise details of amount deposited in cooperative societies, district cooperative banks, urban banks, state cooperative banks after demonetisation till March 31, 2017 (see below).

The post ADCB Bank with Amit Shah as Director amassed deposits of banned notes post-DeMo: Rajya Sabha appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Two towns in election bound Madhya Pradesh had communal tensions flaring over the week end, Prithvipur in Tikamgarh and Shajapur, both in Madhya Pradesh. Section 144 was imposed to prevent assembly of people following a clash between two groups in Shajapur. According to the administration, “despite police officials’ request, the sound of DJ music was not decreased by either side and the stone pelting began randomly soon afterwards.”

Meanwhile, the day after Eid, communal tension gripped Prithvipur town in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday following the reported death of a man, whose daughter alleged that a Muslim man with whom she had eloped sometime ago was behind her father’s death.
 

Communal tension gripped Prithvipur town in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday following the death of a man, whose daughter alleged that a Muslim man with whom she had eloped sometime ago was behind her father’s death, police said. There was arson and rioting and policemen were targeted by a mob. Police had to cane-charge the mob to bring the situation under control. Over 50 persons have been booked, police said. This incident comes within a day of communal tension in Shajapur. Police said Maniram Kushwaha, 46, was found hanging from a tree near his house, but his daughter and locals alleged that he had been killed by Saif Khan, 24, and his family. Locals set fire to Khan’s shop, house and car and also beat up an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police and two other police personnel who tried to intervene in the matter, police said. Heavy police force has been deployed in the area.

Communal tension persisted in the Maniharwadi area of Shajapur district on Saturday (on Eid) after members of two communities clashed over volume of the sound of DJ which led to stone pelting in the area. The promptness of police intervention, however, prevented a major communal clash and no casualty was reported until a day after the incident. City police arrested 30-35 people in connection with the incident on the basis of CCTV footage, and booked them under relevant sections of the IPC.

According to Shajapur police, a few Muslim youths, who were celebrating Eid by playing DJ music at Maniharwadi Market square of the city on Saturday afternoon, allegedly pelted stones at a procession being carried out by the Rajput community on the occasion of Maharana Pratap birth anniversary, following an argument over lowering the volume of the DJ music.

Reports indicated that about half a dozen people received minor injuries during the clash. One of the two policemen who were injured lost his sight. In addition to that, around 10 vehicles were set on fire and a number of shops were vandalised, according to the police. Heavy security forces have been deployed in the area and section 144 of the CrPc has been imposed, prohibiting the assembly of four or more people.“Tension erupted after an argument between the Rajput community, (organiser of Maharana Pratap birth anniversary procession) and Muslim youths over lowering the sound of DJ music,” said Shajapur superintendent of police Shailendra Singh Chauhan.

He further said, when the procession was passing through Nai Sadak, a Muslim-dominated area, some people requested them to decrease the volume of music being played in the procession. “When the volume was not decreased, some Muslim youths allegedly pelted stones at the procession. Situation turned ugly when both the groups started hurling stones on each other,” said Chauhan.

 The situation is under control now and Section 144 of the CrPc has been imposed in the area. “Police is making arrests on the basis of CCTV footages and videos of the incident,” he added.
When asked about the fake news stories of the incident being circulated on the social media, he said, “We are closely monitoring the social media and have advised people to keep away from rumors. If such a situation emerges, we would not hesitate to shut down the internet.”   

Town inspector of the area Alok Parihar said that police personnel were marching with the procession, but they had no information about the DJ music played at Nai Sadak by Muslim youths on Eid. “They had no permission to play DJ, when we urged to stop it for a while, they overruled the orders which led to the clash between the groups,” said Parihar.

Eye-witnesses
According to eye-witness Pawan Biyani, who runs a shop on the Nai Sadak, said that at the time of incident, he was at his shop dealing with the customers. “Some Muslim youths were playing DJ music in the corner of the market and a procession of Maharana Pratap was coming from the main road. Everything was normal, before both groups started pelting stones on each other and there was mayhem in the area within a minute.”

He further said, as the situation turned ugly, police resorted to lathicharge and lobbed tear gas shells to control the situation. “Within an hour, police controlled the situation. The city police did a great job.”

While another eye-witness, who did not wish to be named, said, “When the Shaurya Yatra procession reached Nai Sadak, Eid celebration was also in progress in an open space near Mahadev temple. Despite police officials’ request, the sound of DJ music was not decreased by either side and the stone pelting began randomly soon afterwards.

”

Tikamgarh
Tikamgarh collector Abhijeet Agrawal speaking to the Hindustan Times, said, “Maniram Kushwaha’s daughter eloped with Saif Khan, son of Karim Khan, two months ago and married him. But Saif abandoned her. Maniram was unhappy with this incident. On Sunday morning, he was found hanging from a tree. Maniram’s daughter and local residents alleged that he was killed by Saif and his family, which resulted in an angry mob torching Saif’s house, shop and car.” Saif and his family managed to save themselves by fleeing from their home.Police said when ASI Nathuram Kaul and other police personnel reached the spot to control the mob, they too were beaten up by the enraged residents.The angry crowd also staged a demonstration by keeping Maniram’s body on the road. Police resorted to cane charge and also lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the mob.
 

Two years ago, an objectionable WhatsApp post had triggered communal tension. Police have booked one person for sharing objectionable content on WhatsApp and also arrested nine persons for disrupting communal harmony in the region.

Reportedly, an objectionable content against a particular community was posted on WhatsApp, spreading communal tension in the area.On the complaint of Suresh, Ummed and some other local residents, police have registered cases against Shahbaz, Firoz, Rashid Khan, Riyaz Khan, Naushad, Bittu, Farmhan, Shafique, Shakir under various sections of IPC and arrested them. Police have also registered a case against Ritesh Rathore for the objectionable post under IT section 295-A.
 
 
 
 

The post Communal tension in Two MP Towns as Eid passes & Elections approach:Shajapur & Tikamgarh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Lucknow: Dr. Kafeel Khan has accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Bansgaon, Kamlesh Paswan and his three associates for the June 10 attack on his brother Kashif Jameel where he was shot three times. He discussed more details about how he came to this conclusion at a press conference on Sunday.
 
Dr. Khan claimed that Paswan and his accomplices Satish Nangalia, owner of Gorakhpur’s Baldev plaza, people named Numan and Nikhat Ara had conspired together to attack Kashif. He also said that his brother has named these four people in his statement to the police on Saturday. “The family has claimed that the conspirators want to usurp its 50,000 square feet property in Rustampur, Gorakhpur and that a similar attempt was made earlier in February after which an FIR was also lodged,” reported Times Of India.
 
Dr. Khan said that he wants the case to be investigated by an independent agency like the CBI and headed by high court judges. “We don’t want this case to be investigated by UP police because it is complicit. The police have not yet found any motive for the attack. It was promised that the culprits will be nabbed within 48 hours. It has been a week now but no action has been taken yet, no arrests have been made yet,” he said at the press conference. Sabrang India had reported how the police wasted crucial hours in getting Kashif treatment after he was shot.
 
What the BJP MP had to say
 
Paswan denied all allegations at a separate press conference on the same day. He said that he would file a defamation case against Dr. Khan and doesn’t mind being investigated by any authority.
 
“Speaking to reporters in Gorakhpur, Paswan said that Dr. Khan is trying to hog the limelight after getting a letter from Rahul Gandhi in his support. He also denied the allegation that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was present in his math which is 500m away from the site where Dr. Khan’s brother was shot. “He has also said Yogiji and I are not on good terms. This is absolutely absurd. He himself had gone to the hospital after getting injured but had not taken my name before the police then. After five days, he is taking my name, which is ridiculous,” Paswan said,” reported Indian Express.
 
In the report by TOI, Paswan said, “Dr. Khan has a long history. He is already accused in BRD medical college case in which many children had died and was in jail for eight months. Earlier also he was lodged in Tihar jail and was booked for impersonation in an examination. He is also accused in a rape case. Kashif and his brothers have encroached upon more than a dozen plots of land.” 

Dr. Khan said in the same report that, “The rape case Paswan is talking about was a false allegation due to a business rivalry and the same was accepted in the police’s final report in April 2017. I was in Tihar jail for about 10-15 days in 2009 which was also a misunderstanding and has ended.” Dr. Khan said, “Kashif was not involved in that case, but my cousin Asad Ullah Warsi was attacked by these same people then too.”
 
The Indian Express reported, “Alleging that Kashif and his brothers are accused in over a dozen cases of land-grabbing, Paswan said, “In the past, Kashif had himself shot at his leg and tried to frame a 55-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman in a case. He is in the land business and is an accused in many cases. He had fraudulently taken a huge loan from the Punjab National Bank in the name of two persons — Shadab and Yusuf — and did not repay it. The bank has served a notice,” Paswan said.”
 
“Jameel, who is a property dealer, has two criminal cases pending against him, including that of forgery. The police had suspected the attack was a fallout of property dispute. However, Khan believed it had more to do with the ‘false cases’ filed against him. Khan had released a statement hours after his brother was attacked, alleging “I always said they would try to kill us,” The India Express reported stated.
 
Dr. Kafeel Khan was in charge of the paediatrics wing at BRD Medical when the tragedy occurred and about 66 children died due to lack of oxygen. He was removed and arrested on charges of negligence and was granted bail by the Allahabad court this April.
 

The post Dr. Kafeel Khan accuses BJP MP of masterminding his brother’s attack appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Protesting Inadequate Rehabilitation, around 600 NBA activists and people of Narmada Valley along with Medha Patkar got detained from Bhopal and Habibganj Railway station in Bhopal
MP Police detained and kept people at three places, New Central Jail (Gandhinagar, Bhopal), Habibganj and Rest at Bhopal Railway Junction
 
In the early hours of Wednesday,July 19, when protesting villages from the Narmada Valley reached Bhopal, the police detained them without giving any reason and have  taken them to Central Jail, Bhopal. Another 600 Narmada Bachao Andolan Activists and villagers were similarly detained at Bhopal and Habibganj Railway Station. Detainees are reportedly held at at three locations: around 200 people at New Central Jail, Gandhi Nagar, Bhopal; around 300 people at Habibganj, and others at Bhopal Junction.
 
This harsh action of the Madhya Pradesh government is being seen as an attempt to curtail legitmate protests on people demanding their due rehabilitation and raising their voice against the unlawful and unjust submergence. As many as 40,000 families have been denied rehabilitation in the Sardar Sarovar Dam affected region in the Narmada Valley.
 
This is the third time in a month time when police of different states detained the people of Narmada Valley and NBA activists at various places without any reasons.
 
NBA leader Medha Patkar and activists have appealed to citizens to call the police officials of Bhopal and chief minister office to release all the detained activists and people of Narmada Valley to save the constitutional values and their fundamental rights.

The post NBA Activists Detained at 3 Locations: MP appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A new movement has begun in Narmada valley, focussing on the trees that will be lost to us –in all 10 lakh trees would be submerged along with 192 villages and one town, Dharampuri, with the Narmada dam’s height reaching 138.64 metres, the full reservoir level. According to an expert spot survey, in the 38 villages where the 10 lakh trees would be destroyed, 86,300 trees are more than 100 years old.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), the anti-dam organization fighting for the dam oustees’ cause, has been organising demonstrations against destruction of trees in Badwani town, as also in the district’s Aad to valda, Jangarva, Bagud and other villages. Pledging to ensure that they would not allow the authorities to uproot more trees, the demonstrations were held even as the Madhya Pradesh government began a major a programme to plant 25 lakh trees in Badwani district alone. Objecting to the move, NBA in a statement said, “Shockingly, the state government has decided to take up the programme, but refuses to give an answer as why is it wanting to destroy hundreds of years trees in the valley.”

According to reliable information, so far, 3,385 hectares (ha) of jungles have already been washed away as a result of the Narmada dam’s height having been raised to 138.64 metres. In each ha there were between 1,600 and 2,000 trees. “Nobody knows who would look after the new plantations. There is no plan on this”, NBA said, adding, “Already, the plants claimed to have been planted during the recent government-sponsored Narmada Seva Yatra in the dam-affected areas to compensate for the loss of trees because of the dam are beginning to die.”

Calling its campaign “Save trees, save life”, NBA warned, by allowing trees to into submergence along the Narmada valley environment of the entire area would be adversely affected.”

In all, the state government claimed, it would plant three crore trees across seven districts – Badwani, Khargaon, Alirajpur, Amarkantak, Anooppur, Dhar and Jabalpur – though it did not say which trees would be planted. NBA said, “The tree plantation plan has little meaning, because the state government has given false information of compensatory tree plantation to the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) following 3,385 ha of forests having gone into submergence.”

A missive from the NBA added, “Based on this false information, the inter-state body NCA gave environmental clearance to allow the dam to be raised.” “There was no ground-level verification of the information provided by the state government. In fact, a senior NCA official, after visiting a small area, gave the report allowing environmental clearance for the dam to be raised”, NBA said. “In fact, there was no effort to find out whether compensatory plantations in place of dense forests of Satpuda and Vindhya would help environment in any way”, NBA said, adding, “Ground realities are totally different. In place of these jungles currently the wild weed, babul, is flourishing.”

The post 10 Lakh Trees, 86,300 a Century Old, will be Submerged when 192 Villages Go Under: Narmada appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Nine men, including a leader of the ruling BJP, have been nabbed by the cyber cell of the Bhopal police for running an online sex racket.

Among those arrested was Neeraj Shakya (33) who was appointed as state media in-charge of the ruling BJP’s scheduled caste (SC) cell in Bhopal only a few days ago.

Shakya is reportedly close to the fiery VHP leader Sadhvi Rithambra.

Shakya with Sadhiv Rithambara

“Following his arrest by the cyber cell, State BJP president Nandkumar Singh sacked him from the party,” MP state BJP chief spokesperson Deepak Vijayvargiya told the New Indian Express.

The SP (Cyber Cell, Bhopal) Shailendra Chouhan gave the names of the others accused of running the sex racket and arrested as Dinesh alias David Singh, Suresh Gahlot, Ravi Prajapati, Harjit Dhanwani, Manoj Kumar Gupta, KK Jaiswal, Suresh Belani, Miswauddin.

Three customers were also arrested during the raid late on Thursday night.

Four women looking for jobs hailing from Maharashtra, Meghalaya and Panna (MP) were rescued.

In February this year, three ruling BJP cadre, including Bhopal BJP IT Cell chief Dhruv Saxena, were arrested by the State anti-terrorism (ATS) squad for running Chinese simbox enabled illegal telephone exchanges, which allegedly aided spying by Pakistan’s inter-service intelligence (ISI) in India.

According to SP (Cyber Cell Bhopal) Shailendra Chouhan, “our team was working on the matter since three months following specific inputs about an online sex racket running in posh areas of Bhopal through a web portal.” Sustained probe revealed that those operating the racket were regularly scanning resumes/CVs of girls and women urgently needing jobs on various job portals.

The men had listed their own contact numbers on the web portal facilitating the alleged sex racket.
 

The post Sex racket in MP: BJP leader among nine arrested appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Photos: Two Circles.

Violence started after the Thakur community of Shimlana village took out a procession march to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap, and it moved towards a Dalit dominated village Shabbirpur.

At Shabbirpur, residents raised objection and as a result of that a verbal spat started between the two groups. The whole argument led to spark of violence which was supported by stone pelting and burning of private as well as public properties. After a Dalit woman was hit badly by the stone, the Dalit community also started stone pelting. Things turned out more ugly and Thakurs allegedly broke Ravidas temple and a statue of Ambedkar.

During the altercation, a stone hit 25-year-old Sumit, s/o Dharmpal, on the head and he was declared dead when taken to the hospital.

When the news of the death reached the clash site, members of Thakur community set ablaze 25 houses of the Dalit community.

Moreover, the police was also targeted this time the mob. A fire engine was broke down and three police vehicles were set on fire.
 

Chaman Singh Chavda, CO Deoband, also got injured when he intervened in the matter. Violence came to a halt after District Magistrate NP Singh and SSP Subhash Dubey reached the spot with security forces from adjoining districts.SSP Dubey said, “The situation is tense but in control. To maintain the peace is our priority.”

Earlier on April 20, situation in Saharanpur got communally tense when Saharanpur MP from BJP Ram Lakhan Pal Sharma tried to take out a procession March in remembrance of Dr. BR Ambedkar without permission from the government.

Sharma’s brother Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma started beating police personnel while Ram Lakhanpal Sharma started shouting on police to shoot Muslims. FIR was lodged against both of them.

The post Saharanpur Up in Flames: One Dead, Thakurs Burn Down 25 Dalit Homes appeared first on SabrangIndia.