On 16th
April, 2012 the Patna High Court acquitted 23 people who were convicted by a
lower court (i.e. Ara Sessions Court in May 2010) in the gruesome Bathani Tola
massacre case, thus indicating travesty of the country’s criminal justice
system. 21 dalits and muslims including women and children were butchered in
broad daylight by the caste militia-Ranvir Sena in Bihar's Bhojpur district on
11 July, 1996. The main culprit, Brahmeshwar Singh, chief of the outlawed
Ranvir Sena was murdered on 1 June, 2012 which led to the sudden flare-up in
Ara. Supporters of BJP and upper caste Bhumihars went berserk following his
death, damaging public and private property.
A National Convention
entitled Justice for Bathani Tola 1996-Punish the Guilty was organized by 'Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola' on 15
July, 2012 at the Constitution Club to commemorate the Bathani Tola anniversary
in Delhi. It was held a day before the hearing of the petition in the Supreme
Court against the Patna High Court verdict. The Convention was addressed by the
survivors of the Bathani Tola massacre as well as students from Ara’s dalit
hostel who faced ire from the supporters of Ranvir Sena and BJP after the death
of Brahmeshwar Singh. A report on the witch-hunt of minority youth at Darbhanga
was also presented at the Convention.
Kavita Krishnan, Member
of the Central Committee, CPI (ML) Liberation welcomed the participants of the
Convention and introduced the young filmmakers–Kundan et al who created a documentary on Bathani Tola massacre. She
recalled what the Ranvir Sena said about the killings: "We kill children
because they will grow up to become Naxalites. We kill women because they will
give birth to Naxalites."
Uma Chakravarti,
noted historian said that a serious meeting has been held to ponder over the
Patna High Court’s decision to acquit the Bathani Tola murderers. She recalled the
Kilvenmani massacre in Tamil Nadu in 1969 in which a group of 42 striking Dalit
(untouchable) village labourers (who were demanding for higher wages) were
murdered by henchmen, allegedly sent by their landlords. However, those
responsible for the murders were acquitted by the Tamil Nadu High Court later. After
the reversal of the Sessions Court’s decision by Tamil Nadu High Court, the
landlords involved in Kilvenmani massacre were released but some of them got
killed in revenge attacks later.
Naeemuddin Ansari an
eyewitness to the Bathani Tola massacre and family member of the victims killed
by Ranvir Sena said that the incident took place in broad daylight at 2.00 pm
on 11 July, 1996 [See: Back to Bathani Tola-Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta,
Frontine, Volume 29, Issue 12, 16-29 June, 2012, http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2912/stories/20120629291203200.htm].
Following the riots by Ranvir Sena and BJP supporters after the murder of Brahmeshwar
Singh, Chief Minister of Bihar called a Sewa Yatra, thus, avoiding the
atrocities done on dalits and muslims, he alleged. Though he applied for arms
license in 2008 so as to protect himself from further attacks by upper caste
militia, till date he has not received it.
Shabbir, a victim
from Ara’s dalit hostel (Ambedkar Kalyan Hostel), said that Ranvir Sena and BJP
supporters attacked dalit students at the morning hours after the murder of Brahmeshwar
Singh-chief of Ranvir Sena. Bhojpur police was informed about the attack but
the administration expressed its inability to help and instead asked the
students to run away from the hostel. All the necessary items were stolen by
the attackers. Locked rooms left behind were broken. Dalit students were beaten
mercilessly. No water and electricity services were arranged by the
administration after the incident.
Shivprakash Ranjan, a
student of Ambedkar Kalyan Hostel and AISA supporter, said that the cycle-stand
near the hostel was burnt and 40-50 cycles were destroyed completely. 3 bikes
and a jeep were burnt by the Ranvir Sena supporters during the riot following Brahmeshwar
Singh’s murder. Police asked the students to leave the hostel for 4-5 months.
It seemed from the behavior of the police personnels deployed that they were siding
with the attackers. Due to the intervention of AISA, the SDO could be met. From
11th June onwards, staying inside the hostel restarted and from 18th
June police force was posted in the dalit hostel. The CM declined to meet the
AISA leadership [Read: Attack on Dalit Hostels in Ara by Ranveer Sena Goons
Exposes Nitish’s Secular Posturing-Shivprakash Ranjan, http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2012/july_2012/feature.html].
The SC/ST Welfare Minister Jitanram Majhi was also met by the AISA delegation. The
District Magistrate refused to take any action and said that media cooked up
the story of attacks on dalit students.
Retired JNU professor
Tulsi Ram said that Bathani Tola has become a symbol of atrocities on dalits.
It was retired judge Justice Sawant of the Supreme Court who said that law in
India is not strong enough to punish the guilty. The justice system in India is
hindu-ized. Chanakya’s arthashastra
is too harsh on dalits and has provisions for the maximum amount of punishment
for them. 80-85 percent of people who are hanged are dalits since they cannot
afford justice. It is not external enemies but insiders who are responsible for
murdering the countrymen. In BJP ruled states, human rights abuse is rampant
for example Chhattisgarh [See: Human shield review after ‘mix-up’-Nishit
Dholabhai, The Telegraph, 5 July, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120705/jsp/nation/story_15693320.jsp].
Economic empowerment of dalits has not taken place. A strange mixture of
religion and violence could be noticed in the Ara attack on dalit students
since both Ranvir Sena and BJP supporters took part in it. Anti-Buddhist wave got
started in India by discovering newer Gods and Goddesses who were weoponized
too. Such Gods and Goddesses acted as symbols of violence. People who believe
in such Gods tend to be more violent. Dalits are attacked since they are the
most vulnerable in the caste structure.
Retired Chief Justice
of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sacchar mentioned about the Arwal massacre in
which police opened fire on a peaceful mass meeting killing 23 and injuring
dozens [See: A Fact Finding Report On Arwal Massacre, http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/liberty.nsf/(docid)/BA06C62226979E26E5256A47002A0D92].
He said that during the last 25 years, India has not made much progress. It is,
in fact, building a worst kind of society. There were many officials and
political parties who denounced the murder of Brahmeshwar Singh. But when
Bathani Tola incident took place not much public sympathy came into being. Justice
Sacchar promised legal help to the families of the victims.
Prof. Kamal Mitra
Chenoy from JNU said that in the Bathani Tola massacre both Indian Constitution
and Social Justice were attacked. The killing of Chandrashekhar, a student
leader from JNU, took place in a similar fashion in Siwan in March 1997.
Victims of Bathani Tola have not yet received justice. Democracy in India can,
thus, be questioned. Attacks on dalit students happened in a state whose CM
says that he is with the lower caste. Despite the presence of such a CM, Ranvir
Sena supporters dared to attack dalit students in Ara after the death of Brahmeshwar
Singh. Those hanged are mostly dalits since they have no recommendations and they
lack money to afford good lawyers. In India only the rich can afford justice. Naxalism
grew as a result of social injustice. Those taking up the causes of dalits
before elections have turned out to be traitors and they now support MNCs. He
demanded that people’s representatives should visit Bathani Tola. Bad
governance has spread across the country. Fight against injustice shall
continue.
Prof. Nandini Sundar
from Department of Sociology Delhi School of Economics congratulated the people
for continuing their fight against feudalism despite getting a setback decision
from the Patna High Court. She said that tribals faced a similar situation in
Chhattisgarh.
Vineet Tiwari who was
part of the PUCL group that wrote a report on Amousi massacre, which took place
on 1 October 2009 spoke in detail about the incident [A Fact Finding Report on
Amousi Carnage in Khagaria District, http://otheraspect.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/a-fact-finding-report-on-amousi-carnage-in-khagaria-district/].
Simpson whose
brother-in-law was killed in the Paramakudi massacre inside a police van said
that the High Court of Tamil Nadu acquitted the murderers of Kilvenmani
massacre that took place in 1969 due to lack of evidence. He said that in India
dalits are victims of caste oppression. Economic status of dalits could not be
changed despite bhakti movement. Their economic status has remained the same
since centuries. Successive Governments had been against land reforms. He asked
for successful land reforms, implementation of land ceilings along with land
redistribution and joining of land cooperatives by beneficiaries of land
reforms.
Sources:
Justice for Bathani
Tola massacre victims demanded-Mohammad Ali, The Hindu, 16 July, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article3644998.ece
Bathani Tola and the
Cartoon Controversy by Anand Teltumbde, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol
XLVII, No. 22, 02 June, 2012, http://www.im4change.org/rural-news-update/bathani-tola-and-the-cartoon-controversy-by-anand-teltumbde-15359.html
Convention Demands
for Victims of Bathani Tola Massacre, Sanhati, 2 May, 2012, http://sanhati.com/articles/5009/
Ranvir Sena chief
murder poses challenge to Nitish Kumar-Smita Gupta, The Hindu, 2 June, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3481805.ece
No gentlemen in this
army-Ashwani Kumar, The Hindu, 6 June, 2012,
Brahmeshwar Singh's
murder: Bihar braces for retaliatory killings-Pranava K Chaudhary & Rajiv
Nayan Agrawal, The Times of India, 2 June, 2012,
3 given death, 20
life imprisonment for killing 21 Dalits in 1996, The Times of India, 12 May,
2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-given-death-20-life-imprisonment-for-killing-21-Dalits-in-1996/articleshow/5920990.cms
Three get life for
killing former JNU student leader, CNN-IBN, 23 March, 2012, http://ibnlive.in.com/news/3-get-life-for-killing-former-jnu-student-leader/242059-3.html
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