Bharatpur:The Dalit community in the Saha village of Kumher area here, disturbed by the riots and beatings during the Ambedkar Jayanti procession, fled the village in hundreds and reached the collector's office on Tuesday. These people, belonging to the Jatav community, claimed that the domineering people in the village have been harassing them for a long time, because of which they had to flee the village and reach the authorities for a concrete solution.
Dalits flee village in hundreds citing caste discrimination Leaving together in hundreds on feet, these families said that the decision was triggered by recent violence during the Ambedkar Jayanti procession and the failure of the administration to take action against it in the village located in the Kumher area of Bharatpur district. With this unexpected move, the villagers have posed a great challenge before the administration, with the officials beefing up the security in front of the collector's office. Large troops of police officials were deployed at the collector's office to maintain law and order.
On April 14, during the Ambedkar Jayanti procession, the domineering people of the village caused a scuffle by pelting stones, eventually escalating into a fight. Though the fight was temporarily resolved, it took an even more violent form after a tent sheltering people gathered for the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations was set aflame. Though no severe casualties were reported, the police have taken cognizance of the matter while both parties filed complaints against each other. The officials informed that a case of assault has been registered against 29 people in the case, while three of them have been arrested so far.
"Immediately after the incident, three accused were arrested in the case. Search is on for other accused. Some people are misleading the people of Dalit society. We have been able to identify some of them and we assure proper action will be taken against them," informed District Collector Alok Ranjan. Besides this, the marching villagers also complained of the caste-discrimination being a usual phenomenon in the village.
"The domineering Sarpanch has been harassing us for a long time. He beat up our children and made the officials register a complaint against us. They had even stopped the water supply in our homes for a while. We have been the victims of regular harassment just because we belong to a certain caste," one of the villagers in the on-foot procession to the collector's office said.
Alok Ranjan, the District Collector who addressed the people after they gathered in front of his office on Tuesday, said that after having a brief meeting with them, he has tried to understand their problems and would try to figure out solutions. He added that strict action will be taken against anyone who tries to spoil the atmosphere by inflicting discrimination based violence. "We had taken proper action after the violence was first reported. We had deployed officials there to pacify the situation. But I will be happy to hear the people's complaints if they are marching here from such a long distance on foot. We are open to conversations they want to have but we will be taking strict action against any fake news or rumours regarding the entire matter," he said.
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