Ahead of Gujarat Dalit atrocity cases hearing, NHRC told: State officials failed to respond to 30 "listed" complaints

By A Representative
In what is being considered as a clear case of failure to investigate anti-atrocity cases, a senior Dalit rights activist has revealed that, in a large number of cases, Gujarat government officials have been refusing to send replies required by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking reports on progress made in bringing culprit to books. Some of the cases are as old as 2013, while others are more recent, of 2018.
Listing 30 cases which he filed before NHRC, ranging from murder and rape to social boycott and forced migration, the activist, Kantibhai U Parmar, in a representation to NHRC chairman HL Dattu, visiting Gujarat on April 26-27 for an open hearing session, has said, the officials who failed to respond to NHRC queries should be asked to remain present at the Police Academy, Karai, off Gandhinagar, Gujarat capital, where the hearing is proposed.
Of the 30 cases listed, claims Parmar, the only issue to be taken up at the "open hearing" is regarding the complaint to the principal secretary, education, Gujarat government, which alleges that there no representative of SC/ST community in any of the committees of the Gujarat education board. In this case, NHRC has directed the senior official to remain present with reply at the open hearing at Karai along with the requisite report.
Parmar has written the letter in response to an NHRC communique, posted on its website, which asks all those who have raised problems and grievances of scheduled castes and tribes (SC and ST) regarding atrocities committed by a public servant or of negligence by them, to send their complaints in advance, so that these could be taken up at the open hearing, to be chaired by Dattu.

Kantilal Parmar

The list prepared by Parmar and sent to Dattu includes 14 about which he had lodged complaints to NHRC in 2017, eight this year, while the rest between 2013 and 2016. In each of these complaints, Parmar says, while NHRC is found to have sought answers from concerned officials, the officials have have failed to respond on what action, if at all, they have taken, as demanded by NHRC.
Parmar's list includes the case of the death of a manhole worker due to suffocation of October 2013 in which the NHRC had sought report from the district police chief, Gandhinagar, within four weeks, and yet there is no response even though five years have passed. In 2017, following a similar incident of manhole death of Dharmesh and Anil Purabiya in Sector 19, Gandhinagar, NHRC had sought report from the district collector and police chief, yet they have not responded.
Things were found to be not very different in the case of manhole death of Jasubhai Gangdiya in Vejalpur's Ashapura Society,Ahmedabad. Despite the fact that NHRC had sought action taken report from the Commissioner of Police and the Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad, none of them have responded even though a year has passed. Similarly, there is no response following the death of four sanitary workers in safety tank in Jetpur, Rajkot district.
Then, there is the case of forced migration of a family in 2015, on which the Amreli district police chief was asked to send report, again within four weeks, yet there is no response, though three years have passed. The family was forced to migrate following the rape of a minor Dalit girl, says Parmar, and the Amreli authorities were asked as to how much time it would take for them to respond, and whether the matter has been examined at all.
The situation, Parmar's list shows, is the same with regard to another forced migration case of Patan district, or of Botad district, where Dalits faced social boycott and forced migration from village Malpur, or of social boycott of Dalits in Mehsana district.

NHRC chairman Dattu

Other cases listed include death of eight Dalits due to gas bottle blast in Amreli district,death of 20 children in Asarva Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, due to "negligence" of doctors; and of Jiviben, a native of Kutch district, who also died allegedly due to doctors' negligence in Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad.
Parmar also lists case of suicide by a midday meal scheme administrator because of harassment by school teachers in Mehsana district; murder of a Dalit youth in Porbandar district; death of Jigneshbhai Sondhrva in an Amreli district jail; Bharat Gohel burnt alive in Veraval in Gir-Somnath district; and murder of a Dalit youth Mihir Kanubhai Jadav in Ahmedabad district.
The cases listed further include Dalits' failure access to food from public distribution system in Chanch Bandar village in Rajula, Amreli district; harassment of retired teacher Gangaben Somabhai Rathava, who had sought clearance of papers regarding pension from Chhota Udepur district education authorities; and refusal to permit Dalit village chief to hoist national flag in a Saurashtra village.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

The war on junk food: Why India must adopt global warning labels

By Jag Jivan The global health landscape is witnessing a decisive shift toward aggressive regulation of the food industry, a movement highlighted by two significant policy developments shared by Dr. Arun Gupta of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi).

The illusion of nuclear abundance: Why NTPC’s expansion demands public scrutiny

By Shankar Sharma* The recent news that NTPC is scouting 30 potential sites across India for a massive nuclear power expansion should be a wake-up call for every citizen. While the state-owned utility frames this as a bold stride toward a 100,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2047, a cold look at India’s nuclear saga over the last few decades suggests this ambition may be more illusory than achievable. More importantly, it carries implications that could fundamentally alter the safety, environment, and economic health of our communities.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog