More than 55 percent of undertrials across India are either Muslims, Dalits or tribals, according to new prison figures from the country’s National Crime Records Bureau for 2015.
The Gujarat police swooped down on Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani at the Ahmedabad airport on the evening of 16 September on his return from Delhi, just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landing for his 66th birthday, falling on the next day. Mevani was picked up for apparently no reason and released later in the dead of the night, at around 3am.
LUDHIANA: Just three months ahead of the assembly polls in Punjab, PM Modi, addressing a public gathering in Ludhiana on Tuesday, said his head hangs in shame every time an atrocity is committed against Dalits. He added that he has called for more focused efforts against "social anomalies."
On the outskirts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home city, the stench from cow carcasses littering the roadside is overpowering as India’s lowest social caste keeps up protests against deep-rooted discrimination.
Gujarat's top Dalit rights organization, Navsarjan Trust, has taken strong exception to a senior Gujarat minister, Atmaram Parmar, in charge of social and justice empowerment department, seeking to “inquire into” the use of funds under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) norms, wondering whether the matter comes under him.
The demands placed during the rally included strict implementation of the Atrocity Act, hearing of Atrocity cases in special courts, capital punishment to Kopardi accused and reservation for Muslims
Dalits say caste atrocities are taking place with impunity even with the atrocity Act in place as the police is reluctant to implement the law.
In Haryana, as in the rest of the country, caste-related violence is on a steady rise. The government, however, chooses to look the other way.
A 14-year old Indian Dalit boy was found dead with wounds all over his body hours after he was taken away by the police in Haryana which is battling anger after two young siblings of a Dalit or underprivileged family were burnt alive in their home on Monday.