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 Bhopal: Halki Bai, a Dalit woman from Madhya Pradesh’s Biharipura village, does not have any idea where her husband and son have gone. The only thing she remembers is an attack on their house allegedly by the village Thakurs.
She said her husband was mercilessly beaten up and asked to leave the village with a warning not to show his face again. “The Thakurs do not behave properly with us. It is not just this incident, they do not allow us to fetch water and we are forced to carry our shoes on our heads while passing in front of their houses,” Halki Bai said. The immediate provocation for the Thakurs' action was apparently a Dalit smoking without taking permission during a funeral procession. Halki Bai is not the only woman whose husband has been forced out of the village. All male members of the 15 Dalit families in the village have fled and individually reported to the police.
On 20 April 2008, it was the turn of Chaaokiri Chaudhary who alleged the police refused to listen to any complaint against the Thakurs. “I have been forced out of the village. I want justice. I want to go back,” Chakori said. Meanwhile, SP of Jabalpur Markand Devaskar denied the allegations by the Dalits and said, “There are some complaints and we have taken action but there is nothing like Thakurs forcing the Dalits out of the village." Almost all political parties including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh are trying to woo Dalits to make a good vote bank. These votes can make the decisive difference but when it comes to making a difference in the life of a Dalit, no one seems to be bothered. (Source: ibnlive.com dated 20 April 2008) |
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