Skip to main content

Justice eludes murdered Dalit youths' families despite political arbitration

By Adv Mohan Dixit, others* 

In August 2023, 18 year old Dalit youth, Nitin Ahirwar, was lynched by the dominant "lambardars" (upper caste, landed elites - in this case, Thakurs) of Barodiya Naunagir in Sagar, MP. When his mother tried to save him, she too was beaten, her hand was broken and her sari was stripped off. Their home was smashed as was that of Nitin’s uncle Rajendra Ahirwar. Just 9 months after Nitin's murder, his uncle, 26 year old Rajendra Ahirwar, a key witness in his murder was also murdered on 25 May, 2024. 
The next day, Nitin's sister, 20 year old Anjana Ahirwar who was leading the family's relentless pursuit for justice died in highly suspicious circumstances while she was accompanying Rajendra's body back to Barodiya Naunagir, reportedly after “falling out” of the hearse. This terrible chain of events prompted concerned citizens of Madhya Pradesh to constitute a fact-finding team to understand the matter. 
After meeting the affected families, police and administrative personnel as well as several others and studying the relevant documents, the team is now releasing a Report of their findings.
Perhaps due to widespread media scrutiny, Nitin’s murder was followed by several arrests, but there are many lacunae in the investigation . Anjana Ahirwar’s several complaints to senior officials that the family was being pressured to “compromise,” and that the police were protecting a local politician and were delaying the investigation, were ignored. 
Some of the main accused are active in the ruling party and have close ties with local political bigwigs. Sagar is an important political centre of Madhya Pradesh -- as is evidenced by the urgency with which both opposition leaders and the leaders of the ruling party, including Chief Minister, Dr. Mohan Yadav himself visited the area and met the affected family. 
However, the affected families continue to live in fear, there are several gaps in the investigation of Nitin’s murder, 11 persons named by the family as involved in Rajendra's murder have not been arrested. Police personnel were accompanying Anjana when she died. But more than one and a half months after her death, the police remain tight lipped about it, claiming that the investigation is still ongoing. The only official version so far of her falling or jumping out of the hearse is completely unbelievable. 
All circumstances of Anjana's death point towards a conspiracy. Anjana, a second year undergraduate student, was at the forefront of her family's struggle for justice. Be it with dealing with the administration or meeting political leaders. Anjana was forced into this role at the age of 15, when she first fought to file an FIR against local "lambardars" for harassing and beating her -- since then she was subject to constant pressure to drop the matter but refused to do so. 
Anjana was the complainant and the chief witness in her brother Nitin's murder as well as the murder of Rajendra Ahirwar, who named his attackers to Anjana on a phone call just before his death. 
She documented the pressure against her family made by the influential lambardars and the prejudiced nature of investigation by the police in the numerous complaints she made to district authorities. Anjana opposed the bail plea of those accused in Nitin's murder in High Court, and was planning to oppose their bail pleas in Supreme Court before her "accidental death".
This matter requires a thorough and objective investigation - one that the local police is neither equipped for, nor can be trusted to undertake with any objectivity. In our interaction with concerned police officials we found that they are highly biased against the affected families. We recommend that this investigation be undertaken by the CBI, as has been the demand from the affected family since the very beginning.
Ex-Home Minister and Ex-Minister of Urban Development and Housing, the current MLA of Khurai constituency, has in his statements to the media, undermined the seriousness of the matter and betrayed his prejudice against the victims in doing so. After Nitin's death he termed the entire incident as a simple village dispute. After the death of Rajendra and Anjana, he claimed that Rajendra and others were criminals and Anjana had been 'misled' by other criminals. 
In doing so, he deliberately ignored the undeniable facts of the case one of atrocities against Dalits by influential "lambardars", the harassment of a minor girl, the deaths of three Dalit youths, the disrobing and assault on a Dalit woman, and attacks on the home of the affected Dalit family. It is to be noted here that three of the main accused - Komal Thakur and his two sons are BJP leaders and functionaries.
The police are quick to cite the criminal records of Rajendra, Nitin and his brother, Vishnu claiming that the family is being 'used' by another faction opposed to the local 'lambardars'. The fact that the victims may or may not have received assistance from such a faction does not detract from the fact of brutal murders and the continuous harassment faced by the affected family. This points to clear prejudice and bias against the victims, and is deeply worrying.
The root cause of this violence has been the fact that a family of Dalit labourers dared to file FIRs against local 'lambardars', and did not succumb to pressure and threats to drop cases against them - actions which directly threatened the dominance and supremacy of the lambardars. Families of Nitin, Anjana and Rajendra repeatedly expressed their feelings of insecurity, of being vulnerable to further attacks by the village lambardars.
Senior leaders of both the opposition parties and the ruling party are fully aware of the matter. Even after the Chief Minister, Dr Mohan Yadav personally visited the family, as did former Chief Minister Shri Digvijay Singh and several senior Congress leaders, lacunae in the investigations remain and the affected families continue to be vulnerable and afraid . 
We wish to emphasise that the Government of Madhya Pradesh government will be solely responsible for any further violence in the matter or any failures in action taken against the perpetrators.
---
*This is the report of the citizens' fact-finding committee. Other members: Adv Aditya Rawat,  Madhuri (People's Union for Civil Liberties), Anjali (All India Feminist Alliance), Neelu Dahiya (Eka Collective), Nitin (Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan) Rohit, Sadaf Khan (independent journalists)

Comments

TRENDING

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

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...

What's behind Donald Trump's 'narco-state' accusation against Venezuela

By Manolo De Los Santos  The US government has revived its campaign to label Venezuela a "narco-state", accusing its top leadership of drug trafficking and slapping hefty bounties on their heads for capture. This campaign, which only momentarily took a backseat, is a strategic fabrication, not a factual assessment. This accusation, particularly amplified under the Trump Administration, is a calculated smokescreen to justify a long-standing agenda: the overthrow of the Venezuelan government and the seizure of its vast oil and mineral resources. A closer examination of the facts reveals a country that has actively fought drug trafficking on its own terms and a US government with a clear and consistent history of destabilizing independent countries in Latin America.

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857  By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman*  Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”