[Reader-list] PRESS RELEASE BHAGANA KAND SANGHARSH SAMITY

[Asit Das]

*Camp Office : Jantar Mantar , New Delhi        *

*Rape Victims warn Hudda against inaction *

*Victims and activists unite in demanding One Crore compensation and
rehabilitation  for Bhagana’s Dalit minor rape victim girls and forcing the
Haryana CM to act against the upper caste perpetrators who have brazenly
been grabbing the Dalit villagers’ land*

*PRESS RELEASE*



*New Delhi, 11 May 2014:*  Hundreds of women, children and men from Bhagana
village of Hisar, Haryana were joined by as many activists, students,
writers, artists and others from Delhi in leading a warning protest under
the banner of BHAGANA KAAND SANGHARSH SAMITI against Bhupinder Singh Hudda,
the Haryana Chief Minister, seeking justice for the four school-going Dalit
girls who were kidnapped and raped on 23rd March by upper caste goons. All
the girls are under the age of 18. The protest also sought proper
rehabilitation for the 400 displaced Dalit families who are living on the
streets of Delhi and Hisar.



The demonstrators gheraoed CM Hudda's residence at 9, Pant Marg in New
Delhi where the heavy police arrangements at the threat of arrest and
beating did not deter them. They demanded immediate action against the
village head and his son who were directly involved in the rape and
eviction. Jagdish Kajla, protest leader, said, “90 dalit families are
living at Jantar Mantar since 16th April 2014 amid so many difficulties.
The government has not provided us anything to survive, forget justice for
the 4 girls. We will not take our protest back till our demands are met.”



So, what are their demands? They have submitted a memorandum to Mr. Hudda
asking for the arrest of the village head and his son along with Gajraj and
others whose names have not been included in the FIR. They are also
demanding the safe rehabilitation of the victims' families and a
compensation of RS 10 million (one crore) to each girl victimised.



Another leader Virendra Singh Wabhoria ,  who is leading the evicted
group's struggle at Hisar, warned Haryana  government that if their demands
are not met within a fortnight, their protest will expand to other places
of the country. Virendra is sitting on Dharna with 120 Dalit families at
the Hisar Collectarate for last two years when these families were
displaced  from the village Bhagana by the upper caste people.



The girls are furious and so are their mothers. They say, ' Why every time,
they make our bodies their battlefields?' One girl studying in class 10th
just wishes to someday be able to complete her studies. She says, 'They
have made us refugees. Bhagana is our own village but we can't go there.
What can be more fateful than this?', she asks in desperation. One mother,
with veil on her face, screams, 'Aren't we human? Why every time they do
this to us?' Huda has an answer, only in the form of huge barricades of
police outside his house.



At the heart of the conflict in Haryana is the struggle over land – it's
use and ownership by the poor Dalits which has been grabbed by the dominant
castes. No land reforms, or access to use and ownership of the common land
schemes, have been implemented till date.  Bhagana's Dalits have been vocal
about their land rights, having faced the atrocities and land grab since
2003. Rape is one of the major tools to silence the Dalit community and
displace them in the name of honor. The Huda government never took action
against the upper caste as Rajani Tilak of National Dalit Mahila Aandolan
cites, “Huda says openly that first I am a jat and then a CM”. This factor
contributed to Dalit atrocities in a much more organized way because the
state machinery does not act in accordance with the law.  After 67 years of
the independence and on the threshold of 16th Parliament, Dalits in Haryana
are *landless, without exception. *







Jats dominate both the Gram Panchayats (Village councils) and the
traditional Khaps. Their authority is backed by the significant presence of
Jats in institutions and administrative positions. The state machinery thus
is becoming part of propagating the entrenched caste ideology and
hierarchies. The levying of sedition charges exposed a face of the state
where it was no longer just exhibiting apathy towards tackling caste
oppression, but actively using its authority and draconian laws to suppress
any assertion challenging caste and class hierarchies. Protests against
caste exploitation have become an expression of “disaffection” against the
nation!



Despite all the above, the Bhagana protests showed that the Dalits are
 continuously pressurizing state institutions, and winning victories like
withdrawal of sedition charges, and making the political class sit-up and
take notice both within the state and the center. Alternative employment,
education, intervention of political parties, government schemes and laws,
and a greater awareness of rights has meant that Dalits too are now
resorting to institutional spaces and methods.



There is a section of the Dalit population that did not leave the village
and join the protest. Dhanak community is the most vulnerable section
amongst Dalits. They were among those who stayed back.  Theirs are the
poorest households. The silence that surrounds them is that of a complete
economic dependence on the Jats, and signifies those who are still trapped
in the hierarchical caste ideology.



The four victims of rape come from Dhanak community.  They were
kidnapped and gang raped for two days by Jat boys. This was the result of
not leaving the village. Families of these girls were getting threats not
to file the report with the police but eventually they managed to raise
their voices against this oppression. This was one of the few cases of
dalit atrocities that came into light, many such cases remain buried and
unheard of.



The protesters want the government to heed their following demands:



1.      Arrest all the offenders in Bhagana case including Village head and
his sonand bring them to justice;

2.      High level inquiry of the rape, displacement and land related cases;

3.      Fast Track Court in Delhi for hearing of the case. Settle the case
within 6 months;

4.      Compensation of Rs 1 crore to each Bhagana gang rape victim;

5.      Compensation of Rs 1 crore to each boycotted family in Bhagana;

6.      A case should be filed against the KHAP and Gram Panchayat under
the SC/ST Act;

7.      Allot 400 yards plots in Gurgaon or Fridabad to each displaced
family from Bhagana till they are suitably resettled in Bhagana;

8.      Arrangement of proper education to all Bhagana gang rape victims
and provision of government employment after completion of their education;

9.      Ban on Khaap Panchayats;

10. 290 acre common land  should be vacated from the clutch of the Dabangs
and be distributed among the landless Dalits and other marginalised
sections of the village .







*Bhagana Kaand Sangharsh Samiti:*

*Sarv Samaj Sangharsh Samiti-Haryana, Hans do India, Republic Thought and
Action Group, PUDR, Women against Sexual Violence & State Repression,
National Dalit Women Movement, Dalit Dehat Bahujan Mahapanchayat, Youth for
Social Justice-DU, All India Backward Students’ Forum-JNU, Democratic
Students Union-JNU, Women for Water Democracy, NCDHR, Bigul Mazdoor Dasta,
Ambedkar Seva Dal, National Confederation of Delit Organizations. All India
Federation of Trade Unions, Nojaat Bharat Sabha, HRLN, Dhanak Sabha-Delhi,
Delhi Students’ Union, Ambedkar Mahasabha, Sahitya Samvaad, United Dalit
Students Forum, Avaam, Bharat Ka Manaviyekaran Abhiyaan, Dalit Utthan
Samaj, Kabeer Jan Kalyaan Sangh, Haryana Kumhaar Mahasabha, National
Movement for Land, Labour & Justice, Bhoomiheen Kisan Sangharsh Samiti.*





---------------------------------

*Spokesperson for the survivors – Available at Jantar Mantar 24x7*

*Mr VedPal Tanwar at 098132 00043, *

*Jagdish Kajla at 098120 34593 *

*Virendra Singh Vabhoria at 094676  89681*


*Media Briefing : 9818065092*