UP tops in crimes against Dalits

Uttar Pradesh has achieved the dubious distiction of reporting the highest number of crimes against Dalits with statistics indicating a "confrontation" between the Scheduled Castes and OBCs.

"Uttar Pradesh tops the list of crimes against Dalits in the country with 16.8 per cent (4,397 cases). The commission has received thousand of complaints of atrocities against Dalits, mostly related to land," Fakirbhai Vaghela, acting chairman of the Scheduled Caste Commission, told reporters in New Delhi.

He said a majority of cases against Dalits are related to land grabbing by OBCs and not by upper castes. "Wherever the two communities are stronger, there is confrontation. The atmosphere in the state shows that there is a confrontation between Dalits and OBCs."

Vaghela, in the presence of other members of the commission, said there were over over 12000-13000 cases before the commission related to attrocities against Dalits in the state with a majority being land-related cases.

He was also critical of state officials saying they have failed to come forward to address the problems faced by the community, particularly related to atrocities and discrimination.

UP is followed by Madhya Pradesh with 4,356 cases, Rajasthan (3,795), Andhra Pradesh (3,117) and Bihar (1,824), he said and expressed concern over the low conviction rate and long pendency of such cases.

"We are equally concerned about lower conviction rate in cases involving Dalits. It is as low as 29.8 per cent, which meant 70 per cent acquittal," he said adding, pendency of large number of Dalit cases compounded their problems.