Golana: Price for justice... when Darbars wanted to teach Dalits lifetime lesson

Paying homage to victims at Golana

By Gagan Sethi*
Eight years of continuous engagement, which included setting up of forestry cooperatives and conscientisation work among the youth, helped us infuse a sense of confidence and self-respect among the Vankar Dalits of Golana village, situated off Bay of Khambhat.
Thanks to these efforts, the community had begun to stand up for its rights. It had begun to identify the entitlements the Dalits should get and also how they were deprived of their rights because the existing socio-political setup.
An application for allocating land had been sent to the mamlatdar of Cambay, as Khambhat was called then. It was the same land that had been encroached upon by the upper caste Darbars of the village.
In official records, it was a government land, set aside for housing for the weaker sections.
The mamlatdar acted in favour of the Dalits. He did this despite political pressure. We believe he had orders from the then Kheda district collector, Ravi Saxena, to do his duty, and not act under pressure.
I distinctly remember how Saxena admonished an MLA in his chamber in our presence. Saxena told the MLA not to bang and shout in the collector’s chamber, as it wasn’t the Gujarat legislative assembly.
On January 26, 1986, the feudal landlord Darbars of Golana village, unable to bear the loss of social power, brutally attacked Dalit households. Four of our colleagues were gunned down on the spot. Eighteen others were badly wounded. Several houses were set on fire.
Darbars thought that they would teach a lifetime lesson to the Dalits, so that the oppressed community didn’t raise its head again. Little did they know that times had changed, and that the community had galvanized itself into a united front. The media stood with us, and we forced the then chief minister, Amarsinh Chaudhary, to visit the place.
For months Golana remained a symbol of Dalit struggle. It was a pilgrim spot for Dalits across the state. The then district development officer, DJ Pandian, now chief secretary of Gujarat State, took special care to see that the District Rural Development Agency granted a housing programme to the Dalits under the Indira Awas Yojana.
The state agreed to our demand for a special public prosecutor, and we got the appointment of renowned advocate RK Shah with his full team to support the legal battle. Ten persons were sentenced to life.
It is quite another thing that the case finally took 13 years to complete in the Supreme Court.
We learned from the trial how justice often remains beyond the reach of the common victim.
One would need strong institutional backing and huge resources to prove a case in favour of the victim in the court of law.
In this ambivalence was born the dream to set up Centre for Social Justice and Navsarjan, so that access to justice is within the reach of the excluded and the victims of systemic injustice.
—
*Founder of Janvikas & Centre for Social justice. This article first appeared in DNA

Comments

When democracy becomes a performance: The Tibetan exile experience

By Tseten Lhundup* I was born in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlements in southern India. From childhood, I grew up in simple barracks, along muddy roads, and in fields with limited resources. Over the years, I have watched our democratic system slowly erode. Observing the recent budget session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, these “democratic procedures” appear grand and orderly on the surface, yet in reality they amount to little more than empty formalities. The parliamentarians seem largely disconnected from the everyday struggles faced by ordinary exiled Tibetans like us.

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.

Beyond the island: Top mythologist reorients the geography of the Ramayana

By Jag Jivan In a compelling new analysis that challenges conventional geographical assumptions about the ancient epic, writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik has traced the roots of the Ramayana to the forests and river systems of Central and Eastern India, rather than the peninsular south or the modern island nation of Sri Lanka.

Dr. Ram Bux Singh: Biogas pioneer’s legacy gains urgency amid energy crisis

By A Representative In an era defined by a global energy crisis and a desperate search for sustainable solutions, the visionary work of an Indian scientist from the mid-20th century is finding renewed, urgent relevance. Dr. Ram Bux Singh , a pioneering figure in biogas and renewable energy , is being posthumously honored by the Government of India, even as his decades-old innovations provide a blueprint for today’s challenges.

Alarming decline in India's repair culture threatens circular economy goals: Study

By Jag Jivan A comprehensive new study by environmental research and advocacy organisation Toxics Link has painted a worrying picture of India's fading repair culture, warning that the trend towards replacement over repair is accelerating the country's already critical e-waste crisis.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Protesters in UK cities voice concerns over alleged developments in Bastar region

By A Representative Demonstrations were held across several cities in the United Kingdom on March 28, as groups and activists gathered to protest what they described as state actions in India under the reported “Operation Kagar.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Search This Blog