Journalism of Courage
The 33 people, all followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, killed in the August 25 violence in Panchkula have been named in cases of attempt to murder, committing mischief, causing damage to property, mischief using fire and explosive substance, using illicit arms and under various sections of rioting by the Panchkula police, and their families are unlikely to be given any compensation by the government.
The dead have all been named in a single FIR under sections 146, 147, 148, 149, 186, 188, 307, 332, 353, 427, 435 and 120 B of the IPC, 25/54/59 of the Arms Act and 3 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) act. The FIR number and sections have been detailed on the first page of each of their post mortem reports.
All died in firing by the police and the paramilitary. The Haryana government has maintained “no innocent person was killed”.
A top Haryana official said there was”no question of compensation” to the families of the dead, as “all these people were here to create violence and were going to any extent, attempting to murder policemen by using arms and explosive substances. Compensation is for those who suffered damages because of the violence created by these people”.
The government is following a precedent set during the Jat agitation in February 2016, when compensation was paid only for nine of the 30 people who died in the violence. Their families were given Rs 10 lakh each by the state government, from the CM’s relief fund. All nine were declared “innocent” during inquiry.
Compensation for the injured was also announced. A person who sustained a bullet injury was given a compensation of Rs 1 lakh; those who suffered a fracture not due to bullet injury were paid Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 was paid to those who sustained minor injuries in the violence.
All nine belonged to non-Jat communities. Various Jat organisations had criticised the state government then for not paying compensation for the remaining 21 dead, calling them martyrs and raising funds for their families.
In the Panchkula violence, even the injured are unlikely to get any compensation. Nearly 1,000 injured people have been arrested over the last week after their discharge from hospitals. They are being charged under the same sections, legal proceedings initiated against them, before they are shipped off to jails in Yamunanagar, Ambala and Kurukshetra.
