By Kulsum Yusuf: Manji Solanki, a Dalit, was killed in Botad district a few days after he had sought police protection from the state because he had feared the very thing that came to be, that he would lose his life to upper caste persons. Solanki, 51, a deputy sarpanch, was killed on June 19. Close on the heels of this death in Saurashtra, 116 Dalit farmers in Kutch have written to the Governor, Gujarat government and the police chief under the aegis of Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani, afraid of being hurt or worse, get killed if they dared to step into their own lands, which they claim have been encroached upon by anti-social elements.
Speaking at a press conference in Gandhinagar, Mevani alleged that some men from upper caste communities are preventing these Dalit farmers from taking possession of the land allotted to them for farming by the state government 35 years ago. He demanded security from the government for these farmers who are residents of Rapar and Bhachau talukas of Kutch.
Ramji Bhadru, member of Shree Rapar Taluka Anusuchit Jaati Sahlaro Samudayik Kheti Mandali, a farming collective, told Mirror, "We have 3,000 acres of land in Rapar Taluka distributed to 698 members of the cooperative but only 37 farmers are able to cultivate their 300 acres of land as the rest has been encroached upon for many years now. In the last three months, two of our brothers were mysteriously killed while returning from the fields."
Speaking about the stateof cultivation, Bhadru added, "Monsoon is already upon us and we aren't able to cultivate the land. We are ready for peace meetings with the arbitration of district administration and hope the matter is resolved. Currently, we cannot go into our own fields as we risk death."
Naresh Maheshwari, President of the Kutch district of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM), said, "We have registered at least 29 FIRs against the encroachers and six atrocity complaints in Rapar taluka alone."
The scenario in Bhachau is the same, said farmers. Out of the 4,480 acres of land given by the government, a mere 25 percent is accessible to the owners and that too at considerable risk. This agricultural land was provided by the Gujarat government 35 years ago in 1984 to scheduled caste community agriculture cooperatives.
Mevani said, "We are demanding justice and police protection. We want police to register atrocity cases and as the whole area is attrocity prone, why has the police not declared it so? They must take stringent action against illegal occupamts who are threatening the farmers."
The MLA said he would take up the issue at the national level if the need arose. Maheshwari asked, "Will he (CM Vijay Rupani) protect Dalits or let them die?"
"Dalits are not safe in Gujarat. Last week, Dalit deputy Sarpanch Manji Solanki was murdered by upper caste members of the village. He had got death threats and even demanded security from the police but the state government ignored it and he was murdered. We don't want our 116 brothers to meet the same fate," said Maheshwari.
Despite repeated calls and messages district collector Remya Mohan was not available for her comments.
Repeated attempts to contact Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja were futile.
Source: Ahmedabad Mirror0 COMMENTS
