In Narendra Modi's Gujarat, Dalits are unsafe and frequently thrashed by upper caste hindus

Under threat from upper caste community in the village, eight students of Dalit families of Tejpuri village in Sabarkantha district appeared for their ongoing board examination under police security. A police vehicle took them to their examination centre and brought them back home during from last four days. Board exams of Std. 10th and Std. 12th will be completed on 22nd March.

On the other hand, about two dozen students of primary school have shunned their classes, while their parents are forced to go to the nearest town to buy essentials under police protection as the shops owned by upper caste would not sell them anything.

This is the scene of the village where on 6 March about 20 Dalits, including children, were assaulted by a mob of 40 to 50 people, belonging to dominant Darbar community. These Dalits were coming back from a wedding when they were attacked. “We were attacked because the groom rode a horse during the wedding procession. We had been warned by the upper caste people not to do so. Can’t the grooms of our caste ride a horse during wedding,” said Alpesh Solanki, a villager. He also said that due to approaching police, the people from upper castes have stopped selling them anything.

About 30 Dalit families, living in the village, are being ostracized due to FIR lodged by the against Darbar community. So far, 14 persons have been arrested by the police while around 30 accused have left the village and are still at large.

According to Sabarkantha Superintendent of Police Chirag Koradia, after attack on March 6, there was no further disturbance in the village. He said that more than 20 policemen were posted in the village to maintain peace. Koradia added that though there was no further threat, but people from Dalit community were still apprehensive.

http://beyondheadlines.in/2014/03/gujarat-unsafe-for-dalits-upper-caste-beats-dalits/

The complaint said, the higher caste persons threatened to kill the boy, asking his family members: How dare a Dalit boy from to the Garoda sub-caste, touch a Prajapati girl?

Garoda is the highest sub-caste in the Dalit hierarchy, and hence is more acceptable among upper castes than other Dalit sub-castes. Traditionally, its main job is to perform priestly rites among other Dalit castes – as high caste Brahmins wouldn’t enter a Dalit household to perform the rites. In the hierarchical social order, Brahmin priests consider Dalits “impure”.
The complaint, lodged by Hemjibhai Gordhanbhai Pandya, father of Kishorkumar, says that the higher caste persons came to their house twice, and every time they threatened to hand over the boy to them. They said they would “tear boy into pieces”, according to the complaint, adding, “They continued threatening us despite the fact that we told them that we have no knowledge about his whereabouts. Earlier, we told them, he worked as multipurpose health worker at Motakapra village, Deesa taluka, Banaskantha district.”

“Things reached such a point that, using their influence, the upper caste persons were able to convince the local police of Vav taluka that my son had abducted their daughter”, the complaint said, adding, “As a result, my younger son, Lakhiram Khemji Pandya, and my younger brother, Ramesh Gordhanbhai Pandya, were kept in police lockup illegally for three days – December 14 to 16, 2013 – without any charges. They were psychologically tortured. The cops in charge even threatened them that our houses would be burnt in case the boy married the girl.”

“On December 18”, the complaint said, “We received a true copy of the marriage certificate showing that Kishorkumar had married Vimla in a Vadodara court. This aggravated things, further fuelling the already charged atmosphere. The upper caste persons came to our house with armed with lathis and knives, and declared that nobody in the village would, now onwards, keep any relations with our family members. We were threatened social boycott, and asked to leave. Their intentions seemed clear – to attack us.”

“Out of fear, all of us, men, women and children, were forced to run for our life”, the complaint said, adding, “For the last four months, we have not been able to return to our houses. We have been told that our houses have been bugged. The locks were broken and our valuables looted. We made a complaint to Vav police station with PSI on April 13, 2014 at 5 pm. We were told that we would be informed about the progress within two days. We would want you to use your influence to ensure that we are given justice.”

The complaint ends by asking: “If our son has decided to go ahead with an inter-caste marriage, how is the family to be blamed for it? Why are we facing social boycott for no reason? We would request you to ensure that we are able live a normal life at our house, without any fear, and feel secure. In case no action is taken, we would be forced to migrate in front of the district headquarters.” Meanwhile, Ahmedabad’s Navsarjan Trust, a Dalit organization, has received the letter and has begun to pursue the case.

http://www.counterview.net/2014/04/in-one-more-case-of-social-boycott.html