As many as 28 Dalit families of a Deesa village (including 32 schoolchildren,two pregnant women and elderly people) continue to camp at the mamlatdars office premises even a month after they were allegedly threatened by upper caste youths over an alleged murder. The administration is yet to find a solution to the problem. On July 30,Ramesh Parmar (21),a Dalit youth,was run over by a tractor driven by an upper-caste Thakor. Two eyewitnesses (one of them a Dalit) claimed it was a murder. At this,the upper-caste people allegedly threatened them,after which the Dalit families fled from Ghada village,about 20 km from Deesa,on August 10 and shifted to the mamlatdars office premises. The eyewitnesses claimed they were threatened with their lives even in police presence. The day we filed the complaint,Thakors from Ghada said they would kill me if I did not stop talking about it, said Mohan Devipujak,who is also staying in the camp with his family although he is not a Dalit. Dahya Parmar,another witness said: Ramesh was walking about 10 feet off the road when Bhopal Vaghela ran him over with his tractor. He put the tractor in reverse gear and crushed him again. Meanwhile,the 28 Dalit families presently living in tents,are relying on water provided by Deesa Mamlatdar M R Parmar. For food and other essentials,they depend on their community brethren around the area. When Newsline visited them,they said they had left Ghada en masse for a number of reasons: they alleged they had to put up with forced labour; were harassed continually,especially the women; could not enter an upper-caste home without their heads covered; were not allowed to worship in the same temples; and,following the death in July,were threatened continuously by upper-caste villagers. The families left about 100 acres of land in the village,along with their homes and livestock. Among those camping at the mamlatdars office are 54 children,including 32 who have not been attending school for over a month now. Mamlatdar Parmar said that for the last few weeks,the administration was busy with elections in the district,but that renewed efforts to resolve the issue would begin soon. Whatever demands are reasonable will be considered, said Parmar,adding that one of their demands,which include the allotment of land where they can settle and start afresh,is unreasonable. Banaskantha Collector R J Patel said he will pursue the matter in the coming days,as he was unable to attend to the matter because of the elections. But he also said that their demand for land is totally wrong. Patel said he will try to convince them to return to their village,which he had visited several times and felt was completely safe. But we do not want to force them over this, Patel said,adding that negotiations will follow soon. Social Welfare Minister Fakir Vaghela refused to comment on the issue. Earlier,the issue had been taken up by Dalits in the area. But a rally in Deesa on August 24,which was attended by about 4,000 Dalits,was cancelled after it had started,said a few eyewitnesses on condition of anonymity. The reason for cancellation was that two elections were to be held: one for the post of director of Banas Bank,a cooperative bank in the region,and the other,the Assembly bypolls. A copy of the permission letter for the rally by the authorities,which included a separate permission letter for the use of loudspeakers,is with Newsline. Witnesses said the scene at the rally turned violent when the Deputy Superintendent of Police,Banaskantha,A M Parmar,showed the rally leaders the cancellation letter. The protestors pelted stones at the police and the police resorted to a lathicharge and fired teargas shells. Thirty-seven people were arrested on charges of dacoity,but were released on bail at the beginning of this month.
