Narendra Modi is a good administrator.
One side of the political spectrum harps on this point.
The other dismisses it.
But the point is out there to nibble on doubts or provide ammunition to those who have none.
So let's turn it around.
Let's say Narendra Modi shall not go unpunished.
Not because he isn't a good administrator.
But because he is one.
The Armenian Genocide was carried under the government of the Committee Of Union And Progress In Turkey. This committee was the result of a radical revolutionary movement that bore the seeds of what Kemal Attaturk's government was to later fertilize. They were the stalwarts of the new and great administrative regime put into place by Attaturk. They were good administrators. The massacre on the other hand was the first of one of the greatest massacres modern politics was to stand witness to.
"Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
A much quoted, and contested statement made a generation gap later by a gentleman named Adolf Hitler. It comprised the culmination of his speech ordering the attack on Poland, with instructions to "send to death mercilessly and without compassion men, women and children of Polish derivation".
Whether the historians who stand by the documents recording this statement are refutable or not is beyond the point. That Hitler was known to use the above reference to order many other racial attacks is spoken about, likely, and with it. The above quoted statement was the last one in his speech. The second last read thus: "Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need."
Hitler too was a good administrator. Documents stand testament to this as much as to his cruelty.
"Hitler, the Supremo" and "Internal Achievements of Nazism" are the names of chapters in the class 10 social studies textbook published by the Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks
"Hitler lent dignity and prestige to the German government within a short time by establishing a strong administrative set up. He created the vast state of Greater Germany. He adopted the policy of opposition towards the Jewish people and advocated the supremacy of the German race. He adopted a new economic policy and brought prosperity to Germany.
He began efforts for the eradication of unemployment. He started constructing public buildings, providing irrigation facilities, building railways, roads and production of war materials. He made untiring efforts to make Germany self-reliant within one decade. Hitler discarded the Treaty of Versailles by calling it just 'a piece of paper' and stopped paying the war penalty. He instilled the spirit of adventure in the common people".
This excerpt is taken from the same textbook. A sub-section in a chapter from the same textbook - "Gandhian Era And The National Movement" - is headlined thus: "The Negative Aspect".
One cannot use excerpts of speeches and school textbooks as platforms for any assumption, other than thought. But since so much of that commodity is being used presently, let's buy into the market.
Everyone remembered "the annihilation of the Armenians" at the time of the Fuhrer's momentous speech. That is why he chose to refer to it. What he meant then, with his renowned penchant for sardonic sub-text, was:
Even if everyone remembers the annihilation of the Armenians, who will do anything about it?
But the Fuhrer's penchant for sub-text was renowned for more than witty word jugglery (and thank god his emulators in today's India haven't learnt more than that from his speeches...). A further subtext in the same statement, rooting itself far deeper in psychological subconscious, ran thus:
Even if everyone remembers the annihilation of the Armenians, who will do anything about it, because the same movement which massacred and humiliated them, also uplifted another tribe of people... who happened to be in majority.
:-) (for those intellectuals not in the know... that's a sarcastic smiley) I feel sorry for the West. It doesn't matter whether we're deliberating on the Al Qaeda or the Holocaust... they will always find themselves on the wrong end of the intellectual pole. They've just thought too much. So they have much to be refuted (and considering belief in one's mind has always been more blinding than that in one's faith, who, pray, would glance therein?).
Reason for such railing:
"The greatest happiness of the greatest number"
Copyright Jeremy Bentham, English jurist, reformer and social reformer. Otherwise known as "influential utilitarianist".
Humanity was born within a 'tribe'. Then they re-discovered the 'other' and regressed. Every tribe leader subscribed to the principle of the protection of his lot, and delivered results towards this designated 'people' to deviate dissidents from the reason of their existence in the first place.
This goes on cyclically... so much so that some thinkers ascribe it to a 'process of purging'. Non-thinkers ascribe it to faith.
Copyright Thought. This means the obvious will not be stated because then it would become propaganda - which would be self-defeating.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
WHY DO I NEED A HELPLINE- in many parts
i sit and write.
about the woman forced into prostitution.
the kashmiri pundits who lost their homes.
the activist who was stoned to death.
the playwright who is not anti-dalit.
the filmmaker who was not selling india.
the filmmaker who is selling spain and is proud.
i have written well. i have greater plans for tomorrow. i could have called it a day.
instead i make myself a drink and let in my demon lover of yore who has been wanting to "catch up" for a while.
the inevitable happens. he catches up.
why. why. why.
can i not be satisfied living lives of others behind the insurance cover of my laptop screen.
why must i have my own?
about the woman forced into prostitution.
the kashmiri pundits who lost their homes.
the activist who was stoned to death.
the playwright who is not anti-dalit.
the filmmaker who was not selling india.
the filmmaker who is selling spain and is proud.
i have written well. i have greater plans for tomorrow. i could have called it a day.
instead i make myself a drink and let in my demon lover of yore who has been wanting to "catch up" for a while.
the inevitable happens. he catches up.
why. why. why.
can i not be satisfied living lives of others behind the insurance cover of my laptop screen.
why must i have my own?
THE REAL HELPLINE
...none knows so well as i.
and then there is another scenario. you live in mumbai. you have reached a point where your perfect life is threatening to make no sense. and you want a hasty exit. you have often made do with leaving the city for a day or two but now the city follows you everywhere. it screams in your ears when ure alone in the hills or in ure once upon a time quaint hometown. you want to see if it will help to leave the physical body and draw your kitchen knife out of the cockroached drawer. then you remember the drinking session youre supposed to have in mondegar later and wonder if you should let ure childhood friend know you wont make it atleast not in ure own body..because time is real money and you shouldnt waste your best friends money just coz u have to leave now. the thought of this friend melts your heart. you suddenly want to do more than call off the programme. you want him/her to talk you out of this or comfort you into it perhaps. you dial the number and it rings out. 5 times. you call the other childhood friend. the cellphone is unavailable. you call another not so close friend. his phone is available but he is doing his final edit and just cannot talk. you call the other not so close friend. she answers and is available bt not emotionally. she has a screen test this evening and must get the part. you tell her youre upset. she perfunctorily asks whats wrong. you suddenly feel like you must say something really big is wrong for taking so much of her time and ruining her optimism for the day. but you dont know if your the last straw that is currently breaking your back is big enough and the rest of the pile you cannot exactly unravel so you say nothing much make some polite coversation and hang up. you call up your parents. they must understand they should. but you hear the hello and the gap stares you in the face stronger than your will to end it all. there is nothing to say. the first childhood friend whose phone rang ot 5 times calls from a bad reception area. by the time he has heard you right you begin to have doubts. he sounds awefully preoccupied. he has a 5 pm deadline and a new editor. you ask yourself are you sure you will really do it this time coz otherwise you should really not call this guy over from town. he will give up on you and the day you really do want to do it he wont turn up. the answer is clear from within. today is the day. you have to go today. you tell him that but its too late. the last 3 times you had threatened but stayed back have taken their toll. he wont come. he wont even worry. he will just say hmm and sigh once or twice. add take care. he is writing a piece on dalit woes. they have overwhelmed his emotional space. he hangs up.
look. youre still sitting right beside your body. go back in. youre too tired. you spotjogged.
deliver the knife back to the bugs. you have no more use for it. you have died enough for a day.
and then there is another scenario. you live in mumbai. you have reached a point where your perfect life is threatening to make no sense. and you want a hasty exit. you have often made do with leaving the city for a day or two but now the city follows you everywhere. it screams in your ears when ure alone in the hills or in ure once upon a time quaint hometown. you want to see if it will help to leave the physical body and draw your kitchen knife out of the cockroached drawer. then you remember the drinking session youre supposed to have in mondegar later and wonder if you should let ure childhood friend know you wont make it atleast not in ure own body..because time is real money and you shouldnt waste your best friends money just coz u have to leave now. the thought of this friend melts your heart. you suddenly want to do more than call off the programme. you want him/her to talk you out of this or comfort you into it perhaps. you dial the number and it rings out. 5 times. you call the other childhood friend. the cellphone is unavailable. you call another not so close friend. his phone is available but he is doing his final edit and just cannot talk. you call the other not so close friend. she answers and is available bt not emotionally. she has a screen test this evening and must get the part. you tell her youre upset. she perfunctorily asks whats wrong. you suddenly feel like you must say something really big is wrong for taking so much of her time and ruining her optimism for the day. but you dont know if your the last straw that is currently breaking your back is big enough and the rest of the pile you cannot exactly unravel so you say nothing much make some polite coversation and hang up. you call up your parents. they must understand they should. but you hear the hello and the gap stares you in the face stronger than your will to end it all. there is nothing to say. the first childhood friend whose phone rang ot 5 times calls from a bad reception area. by the time he has heard you right you begin to have doubts. he sounds awefully preoccupied. he has a 5 pm deadline and a new editor. you ask yourself are you sure you will really do it this time coz otherwise you should really not call this guy over from town. he will give up on you and the day you really do want to do it he wont turn up. the answer is clear from within. today is the day. you have to go today. you tell him that but its too late. the last 3 times you had threatened but stayed back have taken their toll. he wont come. he wont even worry. he will just say hmm and sigh once or twice. add take care. he is writing a piece on dalit woes. they have overwhelmed his emotional space. he hangs up.
look. youre still sitting right beside your body. go back in. youre too tired. you spotjogged.
deliver the knife back to the bugs. you have no more use for it. you have died enough for a day.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
HELP LINED...
HELP LINED…
And all the woe that moved him so
That he gave that bitter cry,
And the wild regrets, and the bloody sweats,
None knew so well as I:
For he who lives more lives than one
More deaths than one must die.
- From The Ballad Of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde.
Mumbai (or Mumbai’s media) has been continually registering an alarming increase in suicides. The best thing for a potential suicide victim to do at the nth second, they say, is call a helpline. Some months ago, when this disturbing trend was pointed out by experts, I was asked to write an article on the same. What better place to look for real life case studies, than the helplines, I thought. On getting a few bizarre reactions as journalist, I decided to call up them up as a suicide victim instead, thinking this would incur more kindness.
After trying endless numbers listed online and hearing a "This number does not exist" or "Please check the number you have dialed" one gets through to the Good Samaritans. The conversation goes thus:
Caller (C): Hello, Samaritans?
Operator (O): Haan bolo?
C: I want to commit suicide.
O: Saab nahin hai. Baad mein.
C: Arre, lekin mujhein abhi karna hai. Kisise baat kar sakta hoon?
O: Paanch baje ke baad.
C: Lekin, kya ye khudkushi ka helpline nahin hai?
O: Nahin ye clinic hai.
C: Aur helpline?
O: Kya?
C: Agar suicide karna hai aur kisi se baat karna hai to?
O: Baad mein karo baad mein...
One then tries the Just Dial Services for a suicide counselor, or helpline that’ll work:
C: I want the number of suicide helplines.
O: I'm sorry sir?
C: Suicide. I want to commit suicide. I want a helpline to talk to so that they'll counsel me.
O: What kind of business are they into sir?
C: No business! Dude, suicide! You know, whom do I call if I want to commit suicide and need to talk to someone?
O: If you like I can give you the name of some counsellors sir.
C: Suicide counsellors?
O: Yes sir suicide counsellors and helplines. You’ll be receiving an instant sms for this information, and an instant email for the same.
On calling these numbers too, the first few ring out, then a few don't connect. Finally:
C: Hello, is this a suicide helpline?
O: Kya?
C: Aatma hatya, khudkushi, suicide karna hai... to yahaan pe baat kar sakte hain?
O: Humein samajh mein nahin aa raaha hai aap kya keh rahe hain... ek minute...
(Sound of things being shifted around)
O: Yes please?
C: Hi. Is this a suicide helpline?
O: No, sir. This is a diagnostic centre.
Another call:
C: Hello, is this a suicide helpline?
O: I'm sorry?
C: If I want to commit suicide and I need counseling, can you help me?
O: Tell me?
C: You'll counsel me for suicide???
O: Yes, sure. One minute... say?
C: See, I want to commit suicide... and...
O:
C: Umm, I'm in
O: Oh! Sorry, we only provide counseling for the
C: What?
O: Further studies? You want counseling on further studies in the
C: No I want to commit suicide!
O: Oh! You don't want to study further at all?
C: Well, I guess not!
O: I'm sorry, we only provide counseling for further studies to the
One notices other numbers, sent through the Just Dial messages and email, listed under 'Training'. One presumes a suicide helpline wouldn't advertise itself such. So one calls Just Dial again:
C: I just called here and asked for suicide helplines. I didn't get suicide helplines. I got trainers, career counselors... ring outs… dead ends...
O: Suicide helplines. What kind of business are they into sir?
C: They're NGOs probably man...
O: One minute sir, you're looking for suicide counselors? You’ll be receiving an instant sms for this information, and an instant email for the same.
C: But I've gotten your email. You're numbers are wrong! I want to commit suicide and have no one to talk to!!!
O: Just a minute sir. What business did you say they were into?
C: Forget it.
O: Sir, please could I inform you about our special offer today?
C: Huh?
O: Only for today special, we have an offer. Registration on Just Dial is totally free.
C: Dude, I want to commit suicide. Why would I want to be registered on Just Dial?
O: It's totally free sir. Only for today. Offer ends tommorrow.
C: SUICIDE! BOSS, IF I DIE WHY WILL A FREE OFFER MATTER?
O: Then you’ll have to tell me what business they’re into sir…
What's narrated so far is fact. Let’s imagine that the following conversation took place:
C: I'm into suicide. Could you list that?
O: Suicide sir? What this means exactly sir?
C: It's a business by which we manage suicides for a living. Please take the number down.
O: Okay, sir, one minute. Yes sir, we’re listing you as ‘suicide management’. What is the location of your office sir?
C: Just take down the number
O: Okay sir...
Imagine further:
C: I want the numbers of suicide helplines.
O: Sure sir, one minute. Yes sir one has just recently been listed with us. Would you like the number sir? You’ll be receiving an instant sms for this information, and an instant email for the same.
A new article:
Mumbai (or Mumbai’s media) has been continually registering an alarming increase in suicides…
Sunday, December 10, 2006
khairlanji massacre
This is an article i received on email from a dear friend so i am not sure of the source. If it violates any copyright pls let me know!
CPI (M) DEMANDS CBI PROBE INTO A TAINTED AND PREJUDICED INVESTIGATION
A team consisting of Politburo member Brinda Karat ( Rajya Sabha MP) and Kalindi Deshpande, AIDWA Vice President along with Manohar Mulay, CPI(M) State Secretariat member of the Maharashtra visited Khairlanji (Bhandara district) in Maharashtra on 9th November 2006.Earlier in Nagpur, they met the lone survivor of the Dalit massacre, Bhaiyalal Bhotmange, and his brother in-law Sidharth Gajabhiye to express grief and solidarity and promised to give all possible help to get justice. Bhotmange’s wife Surekha (45), daughter Priyanka (17) and two sons Roshan (21) as well as Sudhir (23) were brutally killed by a group of powerful upper caste landlords in Khairlanji village on 27th September 2006. The most horrendous aspect of the incident is that before committing the barbaric act of killing, the women were gangraped and the victims were tortured and paraded naked in the village.
The delegation also met Dalit activist Milind Pakhale, Convenor of the Khairlanji Action Committee who is helping them in every respect. Although under severe trauma, Bhotmange and Gajabhiye spoke with the delegation for 2-3 hours and gave detailed information about the entire episode of killing as well as the history of their harassment for the last 18 years. They asked the delegation to press for a CBI enquiry into the killings. The delegation came to the conclusion that the entire incident could have been prevented had the police authorities been committed to upholding the Constitutional guarantee of safeguarding Dalits and Adivasis. On the contrary, all officials responsible for investigating the crime as well earlier related incidents have acted with a huge caste bias against dalits. This is clearly reflected in the manner in which the case against the upper caste perpetrators of the massacre has been deliberately weakened in order that they eventually go unpunished for their gory crime.
There are several gaps left by the police that will hamper proper investigation procedures, including destruction of crucial evidence, giving misleading information to the family members of the victims, not registering the case under the SC-ST Atrocity Act, a faulty post-mortem report, and character assassination of the women victims, etc. The medical officer who conducted the post mortem appears to be equally hand in glove with the perpetrators. The mandatory procedure of taking vaginal swab of women victims has not been followed in this case, as a result of which it will be difficult to prove charges of rape. No videographic record has been maintained. It is most shocking that while the photographs of Priyanka’s body show that not an inch on her body is without marks of physical torture, they are not reflected in the post-mortem report!
The political angle to this episode is of equal concern. Both the local MLA as well as the MP from Bhandara district belong to BJP. Khairlanji is a small village in Mohadi taluq of Bhandara district with 180 households. The total population is 850. There are only three Dalit families including the Bhotmanges and a few Adivasis, while the rest are all upper caste supporters of the BJP. The Dalit families are therefore completely isolated and vulnerable to any kind of violence. It is no wonder that the BJP elected representatives have not met the victims’ family till date, nor have they intervened at any point before the massacre took place to peacefully settle the conflict.
The role of the State Government is equally condemnable. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshhmukh has woken up to the fact only after the street agitations have begun and the media is now giving the incident wide publicity. It is indeed unpardonable that such incidents continue to happen in a state that prides itself for the legacy of Mahatma Phuley and Dr. Ambedkar. It is quite clear that the police suppressed the details of the case in view of the fact that the bodies of the victims were found on the 1st of October, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Dhamma Deeksha led Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Nagpur. It would have been highly embarrassing to the government had the incident come to light on the 2nd of October. It is only when the details spread through word of mouth and picked up by the media, and when public condemnation started pouring in that the government reacted. However, instead of ensuring that there is a proper investigation and assuring the victims’ family that there will be speedy and fair justice, the state government is busy issuing statements against the agitators, dubbing them ‘naxalites’, thereby rubbing salt into the wounds of the Dalit community, already angry due to the neglect of the state machinery. As we write this report, we received a phone call from Nagpur informing us that while Bhaiyalal and others were proceeding to Khairlanji to meet the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, three vehicles full of people belonging to the NCP stopped them on the way and tried to attack them. The reason was that during the press conference organized by the CPI(M) at Nagpur on the 10th of November after visiting Khairlanji, one of the dalit activists had criticized the deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil for branding the agitators as ‘naxalites’.
As for the history of the case, it dates back to nearly 18 years of harassment of the Bhotmange family. The upper caste dominated village panchayat has consistently refused to enter Bhaiyalal’s name in the revenue records, thereby preventing him from building a pucca house. On the two occasions when he tried to build it, the construction was forcibly demolished and he was threatened with dire consequences if he ever attempted to build his house again. As a result he still lives in a thatched hut. When we visited him we saw stacks of bricks still lying around his hut.
Bhaiyalal owns five and half acres of irrigated land that is surrounded by that of upper caste households from all sides. In 2002 yet another excuse was found to harass him. The families surrounding his land wanted an approach road through his land (‘short cut’ is how they termed it). His brother in-law, Sidharth Gajbhiye, a police patil for many years of the nearby village intervened and helped Bhaiyalal to negotiate in the matter so as to avoid any tension. As a result, Bhaiyalal sacrificed nearly half an acre land and allowed a 10 ft. wide road to be built.
But as expected the harassment did not stop at that. The Bhotmange family was not allowed to draw water from the irrigation canal during day time. On one occasion, an upper caste woman was instigated to attack Surekha on the head with a sickle. When Surekha went to register a complaint, the beat constable paid no heed. The harassment was not restricted only to the Bhotmange family members but extended to Sidharth Gajbhiye, since he was seen as the protector of the family and one who helped them in crisis situations. The most annoying aspect for the upper castes was the self reliance of these two dalit families and the assertion of their dignity. They refused to live like supplicants of the upper caste landlords. Bhotmange’s daughter Priyanka was a bright student, had stood first in her class 10 examination and had ambitions to join the Army. The son Roshan had completed his graduation, had training in computer skills and was looking forward to a better future. The third son was unfortunately partially visually impaired and thus could not continue his education.
Given this background, there was repeated friction between the upper castes on one side and Bhotmanges and Gajbhiyes on the other. As a result, on September 3, Gajbhiye was attacked by a group of people from Khairlanji while he was returning home on his motorcycle. Surekha and Priyanka were witness to this incident. After Gajbhiye reported the matter to the police a beat constable came for enquiry. Surekha bravely revealed the names of those involved in the attack, as she hoped that the action would be taken against the attackers. But instead of taking any action, the beat constable leaked the information to the very people named by her, who then kept waiting to take revenge at an appropriate time. Between September 3 and the day of the massacre, there were a number of incidents of threatening and assaulting Gajabhiye family members. In one such instance, a case was filed against some of the harassers who were summoned to court on September 29. They got themselves bailed out and as though with a sense of victory, came straight to Surekha’s hut and attacked and stripped her and her three children. Bhotmange was working on his field. On hearing their cries he ran towards his hut where he saw his family being paraded naked. He ran to Siddharth’s house for help and reported the matter within 15 minutes to the police station on phone. However the police constable came only at night, several hours after the incident took place and reported that despite the fact that Surekha and the children were missing, there was no cause to worry! The irony of the situation is that Gajabhiye handed over Rs. 500 to the same constable to look for Surekha and the children. When they were not found after an extensive search by the family, the matter was reported to the Dy SP. Yet the police did not move. It was only on September 30 that the police informed Bhotmange about a body of a girl being found near the canal. He was then called to identify the body which was actually shown to him after a long wait of 8-9 hours and that too after the completion of the post mortem. Indeed it was Priyanka’s body, naked and tortured! The other bodies were found only the next day.
Clearly such an unpardonable delay has allowed the perpetrators to destroy crucial evidence and helped to weaken the case. The story, however, does not end here. From the day of the crime, police officials of all ranks right upto the DySP behaved in a manner as though the Gajabhiyes and Bhaiyalal are the real criminals. They have been insulted, pulled by their hair, abused and threatened. Although 44 persons were arrested and charged with S/302 of the IPC, even after repeated requests the case was not registered under the SC-ST Atrocity Act. It is only when the State Human Rights Commission intervened in the matter that the relevant section was evoked and Bhaiyalal’s statement was recorded under section 164.
Comrade Brinda immediately contacted Delhi and arranged for Bhotmange and Gajbhiye to meet the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the Prime Minister. On returning to Nagpur, the delegation met the Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur to apprise him of the situation. Brinda Karat also addressed a well attended press conference and demanded that in view of the shoddy and biased investigation by the state police, the case should be immediately handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation without any further delay. She condemned the character assassination of the women victims and also demanded that the beat constable and the DySP be charged with dereliction of duty and removed from service. Bhaiyalal and members of the Gajbhiye family should be given adequate protection to ensure that they are not targeted in the future.
Bhaiyalal is a completely heartbroken man today. He wants no compensation, no house, no property but wants to live only to witness punishment for those who not only butchered his family but the dignity of the entire Dalit community.
CPI (M) DEMANDS CBI PROBE INTO A TAINTED AND PREJUDICED INVESTIGATION
A team consisting of Politburo member Brinda Karat ( Rajya Sabha MP) and Kalindi Deshpande, AIDWA Vice President along with Manohar Mulay, CPI(M) State Secretariat member of the Maharashtra visited Khairlanji (Bhandara district) in Maharashtra on 9th November 2006.Earlier in Nagpur, they met the lone survivor of the Dalit massacre, Bhaiyalal Bhotmange, and his brother in-law Sidharth Gajabhiye to express grief and solidarity and promised to give all possible help to get justice. Bhotmange’s wife Surekha (45), daughter Priyanka (17) and two sons Roshan (21) as well as Sudhir (23) were brutally killed by a group of powerful upper caste landlords in Khairlanji village on 27th September 2006. The most horrendous aspect of the incident is that before committing the barbaric act of killing, the women were gangraped and the victims were tortured and paraded naked in the village.
The delegation also met Dalit activist Milind Pakhale, Convenor of the Khairlanji Action Committee who is helping them in every respect. Although under severe trauma, Bhotmange and Gajabhiye spoke with the delegation for 2-3 hours and gave detailed information about the entire episode of killing as well as the history of their harassment for the last 18 years. They asked the delegation to press for a CBI enquiry into the killings. The delegation came to the conclusion that the entire incident could have been prevented had the police authorities been committed to upholding the Constitutional guarantee of safeguarding Dalits and Adivasis. On the contrary, all officials responsible for investigating the crime as well earlier related incidents have acted with a huge caste bias against dalits. This is clearly reflected in the manner in which the case against the upper caste perpetrators of the massacre has been deliberately weakened in order that they eventually go unpunished for their gory crime.
There are several gaps left by the police that will hamper proper investigation procedures, including destruction of crucial evidence, giving misleading information to the family members of the victims, not registering the case under the SC-ST Atrocity Act, a faulty post-mortem report, and character assassination of the women victims, etc. The medical officer who conducted the post mortem appears to be equally hand in glove with the perpetrators. The mandatory procedure of taking vaginal swab of women victims has not been followed in this case, as a result of which it will be difficult to prove charges of rape. No videographic record has been maintained. It is most shocking that while the photographs of Priyanka’s body show that not an inch on her body is without marks of physical torture, they are not reflected in the post-mortem report!
The political angle to this episode is of equal concern. Both the local MLA as well as the MP from Bhandara district belong to BJP. Khairlanji is a small village in Mohadi taluq of Bhandara district with 180 households. The total population is 850. There are only three Dalit families including the Bhotmanges and a few Adivasis, while the rest are all upper caste supporters of the BJP. The Dalit families are therefore completely isolated and vulnerable to any kind of violence. It is no wonder that the BJP elected representatives have not met the victims’ family till date, nor have they intervened at any point before the massacre took place to peacefully settle the conflict.
The role of the State Government is equally condemnable. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshhmukh has woken up to the fact only after the street agitations have begun and the media is now giving the incident wide publicity. It is indeed unpardonable that such incidents continue to happen in a state that prides itself for the legacy of Mahatma Phuley and Dr. Ambedkar. It is quite clear that the police suppressed the details of the case in view of the fact that the bodies of the victims were found on the 1st of October, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Dhamma Deeksha led Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Nagpur. It would have been highly embarrassing to the government had the incident come to light on the 2nd of October. It is only when the details spread through word of mouth and picked up by the media, and when public condemnation started pouring in that the government reacted. However, instead of ensuring that there is a proper investigation and assuring the victims’ family that there will be speedy and fair justice, the state government is busy issuing statements against the agitators, dubbing them ‘naxalites’, thereby rubbing salt into the wounds of the Dalit community, already angry due to the neglect of the state machinery. As we write this report, we received a phone call from Nagpur informing us that while Bhaiyalal and others were proceeding to Khairlanji to meet the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, three vehicles full of people belonging to the NCP stopped them on the way and tried to attack them. The reason was that during the press conference organized by the CPI(M) at Nagpur on the 10th of November after visiting Khairlanji, one of the dalit activists had criticized the deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil for branding the agitators as ‘naxalites’.
As for the history of the case, it dates back to nearly 18 years of harassment of the Bhotmange family. The upper caste dominated village panchayat has consistently refused to enter Bhaiyalal’s name in the revenue records, thereby preventing him from building a pucca house. On the two occasions when he tried to build it, the construction was forcibly demolished and he was threatened with dire consequences if he ever attempted to build his house again. As a result he still lives in a thatched hut. When we visited him we saw stacks of bricks still lying around his hut.
Bhaiyalal owns five and half acres of irrigated land that is surrounded by that of upper caste households from all sides. In 2002 yet another excuse was found to harass him. The families surrounding his land wanted an approach road through his land (‘short cut’ is how they termed it). His brother in-law, Sidharth Gajbhiye, a police patil for many years of the nearby village intervened and helped Bhaiyalal to negotiate in the matter so as to avoid any tension. As a result, Bhaiyalal sacrificed nearly half an acre land and allowed a 10 ft. wide road to be built.
But as expected the harassment did not stop at that. The Bhotmange family was not allowed to draw water from the irrigation canal during day time. On one occasion, an upper caste woman was instigated to attack Surekha on the head with a sickle. When Surekha went to register a complaint, the beat constable paid no heed. The harassment was not restricted only to the Bhotmange family members but extended to Sidharth Gajbhiye, since he was seen as the protector of the family and one who helped them in crisis situations. The most annoying aspect for the upper castes was the self reliance of these two dalit families and the assertion of their dignity. They refused to live like supplicants of the upper caste landlords. Bhotmange’s daughter Priyanka was a bright student, had stood first in her class 10 examination and had ambitions to join the Army. The son Roshan had completed his graduation, had training in computer skills and was looking forward to a better future. The third son was unfortunately partially visually impaired and thus could not continue his education.
Given this background, there was repeated friction between the upper castes on one side and Bhotmanges and Gajbhiyes on the other. As a result, on September 3, Gajbhiye was attacked by a group of people from Khairlanji while he was returning home on his motorcycle. Surekha and Priyanka were witness to this incident. After Gajbhiye reported the matter to the police a beat constable came for enquiry. Surekha bravely revealed the names of those involved in the attack, as she hoped that the action would be taken against the attackers. But instead of taking any action, the beat constable leaked the information to the very people named by her, who then kept waiting to take revenge at an appropriate time. Between September 3 and the day of the massacre, there were a number of incidents of threatening and assaulting Gajabhiye family members. In one such instance, a case was filed against some of the harassers who were summoned to court on September 29. They got themselves bailed out and as though with a sense of victory, came straight to Surekha’s hut and attacked and stripped her and her three children. Bhotmange was working on his field. On hearing their cries he ran towards his hut where he saw his family being paraded naked. He ran to Siddharth’s house for help and reported the matter within 15 minutes to the police station on phone. However the police constable came only at night, several hours after the incident took place and reported that despite the fact that Surekha and the children were missing, there was no cause to worry! The irony of the situation is that Gajabhiye handed over Rs. 500 to the same constable to look for Surekha and the children. When they were not found after an extensive search by the family, the matter was reported to the Dy SP. Yet the police did not move. It was only on September 30 that the police informed Bhotmange about a body of a girl being found near the canal. He was then called to identify the body which was actually shown to him after a long wait of 8-9 hours and that too after the completion of the post mortem. Indeed it was Priyanka’s body, naked and tortured! The other bodies were found only the next day.
Clearly such an unpardonable delay has allowed the perpetrators to destroy crucial evidence and helped to weaken the case. The story, however, does not end here. From the day of the crime, police officials of all ranks right upto the DySP behaved in a manner as though the Gajabhiyes and Bhaiyalal are the real criminals. They have been insulted, pulled by their hair, abused and threatened. Although 44 persons were arrested and charged with S/302 of the IPC, even after repeated requests the case was not registered under the SC-ST Atrocity Act. It is only when the State Human Rights Commission intervened in the matter that the relevant section was evoked and Bhaiyalal’s statement was recorded under section 164.
Comrade Brinda immediately contacted Delhi and arranged for Bhotmange and Gajbhiye to meet the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and the Prime Minister. On returning to Nagpur, the delegation met the Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur to apprise him of the situation. Brinda Karat also addressed a well attended press conference and demanded that in view of the shoddy and biased investigation by the state police, the case should be immediately handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation without any further delay. She condemned the character assassination of the women victims and also demanded that the beat constable and the DySP be charged with dereliction of duty and removed from service. Bhaiyalal and members of the Gajbhiye family should be given adequate protection to ensure that they are not targeted in the future.
Bhaiyalal is a completely heartbroken man today. He wants no compensation, no house, no property but wants to live only to witness punishment for those who not only butchered his family but the dignity of the entire Dalit community.
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