Chhara community attacked in Ahmedabad: Set up SIT, register FIR against cops, demands Dalit leader

Senior human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi has sounded alert over the alleged sudden midnight police attack on a colony of a denotified tribe colony of Ahmedabad, ccharas. Quoting senior theatre and film director of Budhan theatre Dakxin Chhara and a number of other activists, she said, "According to the information available, there was some altercation between a few chhara boys, who were drunk at night, and they had some fight with policemen on duty."
"Police returned around midnight in full force -- hundreds of them from what I have been told by a number of local activists -- attacked the cchara colony, breaking vehicles, cars, getting into people's homes, breaking whatever they could lay hands on, attacking men, women and children, even media and lawyers who tried to intervene", said in a media alert.
She added, "Dakxin himself has been beaten up, his old mother-in-law has been attacked. Another theatre actor Atish Indrekar was also attacked and taken away. He objected to police attacking people and breaking his bike... None of the political leaders are available -- their phones are either switched off or out of range. I called the CP Ahmedabad twice he didn't pick up."
A media source added: As many as 50 cars have been ransacked at Chharanagar in Ahmedabad, a ghetto of the denotified chhara tribe. Women were beaten up. There were over 500 cops who crashed inside people's houses and beat them.

Three people, including a woman, who were assaulted by cops were taken to the Civil Hospital in 108 emergency van. Even complainants were detained at the Civil Hospital and taken to the police station. Theatre artistes and press photographers among are the people who have been detained.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani has warned that the alleged police attack on about 200 denotified tribal group Chhara community people, including women and children, to avenge a fight with a police sub-inspector “will not be tolerated in any way.”
Addressing a well-attended meeting in Chharanagar, he wondered why was no FIR registered against the cops.“If FIR could be registered against Chhara community people, why were the misbehaving cops spared?”, he wondered.

Mevani demanded setting up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the whole incident, which took place on July 27 night. He also demanded a Rs 25 crore package for the rehabilitation of the group.

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