NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Bihar sees more dalit killings

Our correspondent in Patna

Six dalits killed in 10 days -- is this the start of another worrying trend in Bihar?

In the first incident two harijans died in Nalanda on April 15. They were gunned down by a gang of upper caste, bhumihar, villagers.

Now, in the latest on April 25, four dalits were killed and three injured in Rohtas district. The incident has sent shock waves in the region, which has a sizeable Chamar [cobbler] population.

One of the killed, Upendra Narayan Das, was the district secretary of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Incidentally, Nalanda is Union Defence Minister George Fernandes's parliamentary constituency. Yet, he has not visited the trouble spot.

When Leader of Opposition in the assembly Sushil Kumar Modi reached Nalanda last week, he had to face protests from the dalits as the attackers belonged to the upper caste, which stood solidly behind the National Democratic Alliance in the last election.

In Rohtas, the killings, according to the police, were done by another upper caste, the Thakurs. A seven-members official team, led by Revenue Minister Ramai Ram, that visited the spot squarely blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the killings.

The local BJP MLA Rameshwar Prasad had toured the place along with Dhananjay Singh just four days before the killing - and Singh is the main accused.

Dalit killings always have political overtones. The slaying of the four, including a local Bahujan Samaj Party leader who, according to the locals, "had nothing to do with any dispute", is believed to have been done to drive a wedge between Kanshi Ram's party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The five BSP MLAs are supporting the Rabri Devi government from outside and are even planning to join the ministry.

Besides, Rohtas and Bhojpur districts bordering Uttar Pradesh have a fairly strong BSP presence, and accounts for three of the total five BSP MLAs.

The Nokha block of Rohtas has witnessed clashes between the Thakurs and dalits in the past too. Only a couple of days before the killing, a Thakur was killed, allegedly by the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist activists, in a village not far away.

The seven victims were on their way to a wedding. They were not with the main party, and were intercepted by the Thakurs who abducted them at gun point to a school. After verifying that they were dalits, they were shot.

The attackers thought that all seven had died. But three survived. It was on the following day that the victims were found - and that, after a massive search.

Chief Minister Rabri Devi rushed four of her minister to the spot and announced an immediate payment of Rs 200,000 each to the family of the killed. But this has not allayed the fear that is lurking in the eight dalit villages of the region.

One thing is clear: dalits are once again being used as cannon fodder by members of the upper caste to settle the political score in Bihar.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report