Nearly 20 days have passed since a nine-year-old girl from the Valmiki community was sexually assaulted and cremated by a priest and other men in a cremation ground near the Delhi cantonment area on August 1, 2021. However, the meagre media coverage has all but dissipated within this time despite parallels drawn with the Hathras case that shook India last year.

The case received social media attention when prominent leaders like Azad Samaj Party’s Chandra Shekhar Azad and Congress’s Rahul Gandhi condemned the incident. When in reality, the protests were near instant. The girl’s mother brought Purana Nangal villagers to the cremation grounds on learning about her child’s unceremonious death.

In fact, Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan General Secretary Poonam Kaushik said that villagers were vocal in ensuring that local police arrested those accused.

“The people there played a huge role in having the men arrested. They continue to protest even after the arrest. However, the mainstream media does not cover these protests. It seems activities affecting everyday life don’t affect them. Regardless, people there are still enraged,” she said.

In the first week of August, Times of India, India Today covered the on-ground protests of the people. Other media houses like SabrangIndia also covered protests by women’s groups like the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) who called for severe action against the police officials, who did not file the chargesheet on time.

A delegation led by Brinda Karat, AIDWA Delhi General Secretary Asha Sharma and Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch leader Nathu Prasad met the family to express support.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait also visited the family on August 8 to join their sit-in protests demanding justice for the minor.

However, as the case moved to the court, the media attention also moved behind closed doors. The outrage about the incident now comes in the form of short legal reports updating the proceedings of the case. When SabrangIndia reached out to some people participating in previous protests, individuals said there is no merit in protesting if the case is already in court.

Why do we protest?

Meanwhile, AIDWA General Secretary Mariam Dhawale rejected the claims that public outrage has diminished. She stressed that concerned organisations are regularly following up with the family and the case. However, the same is not reflected in the public domain because of Covid restrictions in Delhi.

“The police have restricted mobilisation in the area citing Covid restrictions. That is why there is public rage but it is hard to show the same. The authorities have created an anti-democratic atmosphere. There is rage but no consent to show it,” said Dhawale.

Regarding the claim that protests are unnecessary after legal proceedings, Kaushik said the real question is about women’s safety. She pointed out that despite the lodging of an FIR, the cremation ground was yet to instal CCTVs.

Although the Delhi government has widely spoken about women’s safety and security the realities differ on ground. She stressed this by stating earlier two military men sexually assaulted a woman in the same area. Yet, there were no efforts to make the area more secure.

Both times, the locals were vocal about the incidents. She said that villagers had been complaining for a long time about the police’s lax attitude towards the drug dealing carried out in the area.

“The mainstream media does not show all this. If they do, it depends on how heated the incidents are. There are no effective fast track courts. Even with Nirbhaya funds, there are very few special labs to conduct required tests. These systematic issues need to be considered,” she said.

For these reasons, Kaushik said that the matter does not end with a police complaint. Moreover, she said that even during protests people demand capital punishment. Politicians act in reaction to these demands. In reality, this creates a problem of conviction of crimes.

“The more adverse the punishment is, the harder it is to convict the accused. We feel the question is not about individual cases but the mindset that ‘women are properties.’ This thinking is pushed on people. That is why we see people protesting,” said Kaushik.

Related:

Delhi Cantonment rape case: AIDWA demands action against police for alleged ‘silent complicity’
Nangal village gang-rape, both gendered and caste-based violence: Civil Society Organisations
And now, Hathras-like horror in Delhi!

The post Delhi: Women’s group calls upon media to cover the ire of Nangal villagers appeared first on SabrangIndia.

236 former members of the Valmiki community in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh converted to Buddhism on October 14, 2020 to express their anger at the lack of justice and constant harassment of the victim’s family in the Hathras gangrape and murder case.

Pavn Valmiki, one of the people who converted explained, “After the Hathras incident, we no longer trust the Yogi-government. Hindus do not consider us as one of them and Muslims do not accept us either.”He asked, “After Hathras, we have realised that this government will never accept us and nor will this government ever help us. So, what other option do we have?” 

Similarly, 65-year-old Rajjo Valmiki said, “In Delhi, the Nirbhaya survivor was taken to the best hospital and the media never mentioned her caste. During the Hathras incident, a daughter of our community was mistreated. The police and doctors felt no sympathy while handling the body. So, why is the victim’s family being harassed by the media? This conveys to us that we are ‘the others,’ the lower-class.”

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s great-grandson Rajratna Ambedkar helped 50 families in Karhaida village of Ghaziabad to convert to the new religion. The initiated families read the 22 vows of Gautam Buddha. Moreover, they received certificates from the Buddhist Society of India.

According to a report by The Print, the families said they faced severe discrimination at the hands of the village’s Savarna majority. They said that Karhaida village has a population of 9,000 people out of which 5,000 people are from the upper-caste individuals and 2,000 people were members of the Valmiki community. According to Municipal Councilor Vijendra Singh Chauhan said that the village has never before seen a religious convergence of this scale.

Related:

Hathras case: SC reserves order on transfer of case outside UP

India’s rural population assembles to complete last rites of Hathras victim

Hathras victim’s family move Allahabad HC, demand release from illegal detention

Are Brahmins and Thakurs of Uttar Pradesh above the law now?

The post We are ‘the others’: No justice in Hathras case, 236 Valmikis convert to Buddhism appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Mumbai and neighboring Thane both continued to show their solidarity with the Hathras victim in Uttar Pradesh with protests at 4 and 5 PM on October 6, 2020.

In Central Mumbai, people gathered at Chaityabhoomi, Dadar. The resting place of the Dalit-icon, Dr Babsaheb B. R. Ambedkar, has witnessed many recent protests that demanded justice for the Valmiki community woman who was violently and brutally sexually assaulted by a group of men from the Thakur community.

Sadak pe solidarity, Agents! At Dadar at the people’s protest against caste-based sexual violence! pic.twitter.com/I9v0gCWZXv

— Agents of Ishq (@AgentsofIshq) October 6, 2020

A similar protest organised by the Valmiki Vikas Sangh took place in Thane, near Mumbai where a small crowd assembled at Vartak Nagar.

According to one of the protesters, supporters gatheredlistened to speeches by Dalit activists from the Valmiki Sangh as well as other members from the Valmiki community.

The protester also talked about a local activist also talked about Dalit/Bahujan sanitation divers “who have gone missing and slipped through the cracks because society doesn’t care about what happens to them.”

Images from the Thane protest.#DalitLivesMatter #DLM #JusticeForDalits #Resist pic.twitter.com/tkRjM85NJp

— Raj against the UC Machine #DLM (@inaquietraj) October 6, 2020

On October 5, the city’s Congress workers held a silent protest for the Hathras victim although they held up posters of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi instead who were recently manhandled by the Uttar Pradesh police.

Silence Protest against #HathrasHorror at Thane City District Congress office in presence of Congress Party workers. pic.twitter.com/bB50tRcwX2

— manzur khatri (@manzurkhatri) October 5, 2020

Related:

Valmiki sanitation workers go on strike demanding justice in Hathras case
Nation comes together demanding justice for Hathras Dalit gang rape victim
Delhi Police register case against peaceful protesters demanding justice for Hathras Dalit victim
Mumbai stands with Hathras victim’s family; demands that UP CM resign

The post Protests persist! Mumbai, Thane continue to decry Hathras atrocity appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Two kids, who happened to be born in the Valmiki community, became victims of a deep rooted caste hatred which the caste Hindus have been nurturing since centuries. What was the fault of these kids?That they were Dalits, and that, too, of the community which is ‘supposed’ to keep the street, houses, ‘clean’. A community which has kept India clean, and carried the dirt of the caste Hindus for centuries, is not allowed to live a life with dignity. Most of the Valmiki bastis are out of sight for India’s politicians and officials. Not even the activists go to their place.

About two decades ago, an English journalist wanted to do a story on the condition of manual scavengers in India and she told me that she wanted to visit a family. I took her to a friend’s house in Trilokpuri in Delhi. It was summer. She arrived in her car. When she saw the condition of that locality, she was not willing to come out of the car. Yet, I insisted. She came to the house but could not sit there for more than a minute.
While I remained there, she decided to sit in her car. This was the story of Delhi but elsewhere, too, India has criminally kept the community outside the ambit of developmental work.

That’s why the motives of Swachch Bharat Abhiyanmust be questioned, and are questionable, if it does not have any meaning for millions of those, who have been kept untouchable and isolated just for keeping India and our families clean. Why did NarendraModi or his party not speak of the rampant discrimination that Valmikis and other manual scavenging communities face? Where are homes, schools and rehabilitation for the community whichis at the receiving end of untouchability and discrimination not only from the Savarnasbut, at many places, from OBCs as well as some other Dalit communities, who feel that they are placed higher in the caste ladder?

Look at the situation of this village in Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh, where Avinash, 10, and Roshini, 12, belonging to Manoj Valmiki’s family, were killed brutally by HakamYadav and RameshwarYadav. Why were they killed? The two were defecating in the open. Nobody asked why? According to a report in the Indian Express newspaper today, there are 300 families of Yadavs in the village, followed by Jatavs, but the Valmikis, who live on the absolute outskirts, are merely two families. Both of them live in semi constructed houses and do not have any toilet. As the village is dominated by the Yadavs, it is certain that these Valmikis must have been employed incleaning their dirt. However, since the upper castes might now have toilets at home, they would surely get upset with the communityas they are no longer needed there. The children clearly tell us that there is deep rooted caste prejudice and untouchability against them at school.

The villages in India are a copy of Manu’s model and every basti is based on caste. The caste system is followed fully and with great adherence. The other communities have no sympathy on this issue. Look at this village. Two children are murdered brutally and there is no pain, no shame or remorse among these 300 Yadav families. In fact, some of them are defending the act, some are suggesting that Hakam Singh was ‘mentally unstable’ and he would have killed anyone. These are pretexts to save themselves. Where were the others when this happened?In a village, nothing happen in isolation, people gather in large numbers when things happen but when they realise that it may be problematic, they keep quiet.

Can you imagine that two kids were murdered by two caste Hindus, who consider themselves caste superior, and none of the villagers ever bother to visit the families of these two victims. The community is defending the criminals, and has no time to assure the families of these children that they are with them and they will get justice. This is caste hatred. That, even after the crime, you shameless morons don’t even think it necessary to go and meet the families, apologise to them, assure them. No, the cowards and criminals will get polluted if they visit the families of these untouchables. Where will you get such a barbaric society,in which, after murdering the kids of the outcastes, no one even bothers to attend their funeral just because of their fear of getting ‘touched’? This is the power of caste that blinds you. Right and wrongs become caste based. Criminals get strength from it because caste members stand with them. This is pure caste privilege and I can say even the police will fail the case. After some days, the case would be forgotten and things will come back to normal. If this Valmiki family makes some noise, they will try to shut its mouth with money or threaten to throw it out of the village.

The big question is why don’t we speak against it? When did our schools teach our children that untouchability and caste discrimination is a crime? Did Swachcha Bharat and its proponents ever speak about it? Why is the entire campaign to clean India not reaching the ValmikiBastis or dombastis? Do the officers or civil servants, who have janeu and red tikkaon their foreheads, or wear rings given by different Babas in their fingers or big rudraksh thread, ever visit these bastis? Can they do justice to the poor and marginalised, if they continue to live in their caste glory? Why is no severe action taken against students, teachers, staff, parents,grampanchayatswhen cases of caste discrimination come to light?

India’s constitutional provisions have not worked a hundred percent on removing untouchability. The Constitution, actually, did not eliminate caste. Baba SahebAmbedkar always talked about social democracy and felt that, in its absence, our political democracy will fail. Our politicians have ensured that we remain Manu-ised socially, to ensure that this constitution fails because if it succeeds, then we will have an egalitarian society based on equality, liberty and fraternity but such a society would annihilate the caste privileges being enjoyed by various communities and their leaders. It is because of these privileges that the Manuwadis donot want the caste system to go.

Coming back to this case, what is Madhya Pradesh CM,Kamalnath’s solution to this issue? What is the compensation on the issue? If Congress is sincere, it must take the task of honourably rehabilitating the Valmikis and other communities engaged in manual scavenging. Give them land for farming, provide them with school and college hostel facilities and take full care of their education, give them employment in non-sanitation work and declare untouchability as crime against humanity and punish all those who practice it, irrespective of caste. Are our leaders ready to take this? Will our progressivesfind time to discuss the damage that Manu-streamed polity has done to this country?

Murder of Avinash and Roshini is a hate crime, a crime against humanity and India needs to give this issue top priority, and not side track it under some pretext. All claims of progress, great power, greatcivilisation are bogus and hypocritical, as long as we have untouchability and caste discrimination in our society.
 
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1. Justified? Caste slur ‘ONLY’ if made in public, in front of a public witness an offense: Bombay HC
2. Abuse & Discrimination Blacken India’s Institutes of ‘Higher Learning’
3. Dalit youth set ablaze in horrific caste crime, contradictory versions of incident surface: UP
4. TN woman’s No Caste, No Religion struggle ‘follows’ ideals of Marx, Ambedkar, Periyar
5. Reporting a Hate Crime on our website – https://cjp.org.in/report-crime/

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