Skip to main content

Cops "tipped" Gujarat's cow protecting Shiv Sainiks, who tied Una Dalits to SUV, assaulted them with iron rods

Protest in Ahmedabad against Una incident
By Our Representative
Amidst Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel ordering CBI probe into the assault on four Dalit youths with iron rods after tying them with SUV in order to punish them for seeking to skin a dead cow in a village near Una town of Saurashtra region, it has come to light that it was the local cops who had “tipped” the attackers.
Quoting police sources, one of the most well-informed Gujarat-based scribes, Prashant Dayal, has said in a personal blog that the police control room of Una had passed on information” to the attackers on July 11, following which the vigilante group of cow protectors reached the village, Mota Samadhiyala, where the Dalits were skinning the dead cown, and beat them us. The four were later taken to Una town, where they were tied to SUV and hit with iron rods.
While the Gujarati blog calls it a “small mistake” or a “misunderstanding” which, it says, “triggered” the events that followed, leading to violent Dalit protests all over Gujarat, it adds, “The police apparently acted on the basis of a wrong information which it had received.”
“The mistake of the cops was, they didn't reach the spot where the incident took place”, the blog says, adding, “They did not even think of information about it to senior police officials, Instead, they handed over the information to cow protectors or Shiv Sainiks.”
Meanwhile, the four cops, responsible for tipping the Shiv Sainiks, have been suspended.
Una aftermath: Gujarat CM poses with BJP Dalit leaders
The startling revelation has come amidst protests, which were confined to Saurashtra, spreading to Ahmedabad. At least seven Dalits are said to have tried to commit suicide in order to highlight the plight of Dalits, one of whom is reported dead.
Part of their hereditary work as tannery workers, angry Dalits across Saurashtra threatened to stop lifting dead cows and instead litter them in villages and towns across Saurashtra. In an unprecendented display of anger, they brought dead cows in tractors and dumped carcasses at government offices of Gondal and Surendranagar.
On Tuesday, things spread to other towns and cities. In Ahmedabad, more than 1,000 Dalits were detained for holding a rally and dharna in the Sarangpur area under the banner of Dalit Panther. In Amreli violent protests broke out following clashes with police, in which a head constable was seriously injured and died after he was admitted in hospital.
In Gondal, Dhoraji, Dhrol, Rajkot and Amreli there were incidents of ST buses being attacked or set on fire. There have also been reports of state highways being blocked for several hours.
The demonstrators were, apparently, not pleased with the response of the state government, which set up an inquiry by the CID Crime in the incident of the beating of four Dalit boys, and said it was “committed” to protecting the Dalits..
Four days after the incident, the Chief Minister on Monday expressed her grief over the incident through tweets saying she was “deeply pained by the incident” and that it was “very unfortunate”. She added, her government was taking all necessary action in the case.
“Our minister and parliamentary secretary have visited the spot. Compensation of Rs 1 lakh per person has been sanctioned. We will continue to extend all support to victims and bear all the expenditure of their treatment”, she tweeted.
Keeping quiet till now, rhe Congress, too, reacted on Tuesday, seeking “strict action” against all the accused, adding that the neglecting cops should be sent to jail for "lackadaisical attitude" on the matter. The Congress declared it would hand over a memorandum to the Gujarat governor, claiming, the Una incident was the result of law and order getting out of hand.

Comments

TRENDING

Gujarat's high profile GIFT city 'fails to attract' funds, India's FinTech investment dips

By Rajiv Shah  While the Narendra Modi government may have gone out of the way to promote the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), sought to be developed as India’s formidable financial technology hub off the state capital Gandhinagar, just 20 km from Ahmedabad, a recent report , prepared by Tracxn Technologies suggests that neither of the two cities figure in the list of top FinTech funding receiving centres.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Why Ramdev, vaccine producing pharma companies and government are all at fault

By Colin Gonsalves*  It was perhaps Ramdev’s closeness to government which made him over-confident. According to reports he promoted a cure for Covid, thus directly contravening various provisions of The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. Persons convicted of such offences may not get away with a mere apology and would suffer imprisonment.

Malayalam movie Aadujeevitham: Unrealistic, disservice to pastoralists

By Rosamma Thomas*  The Malayalam movie 'Aadujeevitham' (Goat Life), currently screening in movie theatres in Kerala, has received positive reviews and was featured also on the website of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The story is based on a 2008 novel by Benyamin, and relates the real-life story of a job-seeker from Kerala tricked into working in slave conditions in a goat farm in Saudi Arabia.

Decade long Modi rule 'undermines' people's welfare and democracy

By Ram Puniyani*  Modi has many ploys up his sleeves when it comes to propaganda. On one hand he is turning many a pronouncements of Congress in the communal direction, on the other he is claiming that whatever has been achieved during last ten years of his rule is phenomenal, but it is still a ‘trailer’ and the bigger things are in the offing as he claims to be coming to power yet again in 2024. While his admirers are ga ga about his achievements, the truth lies somewhere else.

Plagued by opportunism, adventurism, tailism, Left 'doesn't matter' in India

By Harsh Thakor*  2024 elections are starting when India appears to be on the verge of turning proto-fascist. The Hindutva saffron brigade has penetrated in every sphere of Indian life, every social order, destroying and undermining the very fabric of the Constitution.

Belgian report alleges MNC Etex responsible for asbestos pollution in Madhya Pradesh town Kymore: COP's Geneva meet

By Our Representative A comprehensive Belgian report has held MNC Etex , into construction business and one of the richest, responsible for asbestos pollution in Kymore, an industrial town in in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh. The report provides evidence from the ground on how Kymore’s dust even today is “annoying… it creeps into your clothes, you have to cough it”, saying “It can be deadly.”

Can universal basic income help usher in sustainable egalitarianism in India?

By Prof RR Prasad*  The ongoing debate on application of Article 39(b) in the Supreme Court on redistribution of community material resources to subserve common good and for ushering in an egalitarian society has opened new vistas wherein possible available alternative solutions could be explored.

Press freedom? 28 journalists killed since 2014, nine currently in jail

By Kirity Roy*  On the eve of the Press Freedom Day on 3rd of May, the Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) shared its anxiety with the broader civil society platforms as the situation of freedom of any form of expression became grimmer in India day by day. This day was intended to raise awareness on the importance of freedom of press and to pay tribute to pressmen who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Ahmedabad's Muslim ghetto voters 'denied' right to exercise franchise?

By Tanushree Gangopadhyay*  Sections of Gujarat Muslims, with a population of 10 per cent of the State, have been allegedly denied their rights to exercise their franchise in the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad.