Acquittals in Bihar Dalit massacres ‘failure of pro-poor’ governments

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By Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi / Patna, 15 Jan 2015: This Tuesday was another big ‘Black Day’ in the life of Etwaria Devi. The Dalit woman, now in her late 50s, lost her husband 16 years ago in one of major massacres of members of the Dalit community by Ranvir Sena, a private militia of upper caste landed gentry in Bihar. In the massacre on 25th Jan 1999, some 24 Dalits, all landless agricultural labourers, were killed in Shankar Bigha village of Arwal district. Devi had lost her husband Ganga Paswan and another relative Nanhu Paswan in the incident. On Tuesday, all the 24 accused were acquitted by a local court in Jehanabad district. What has angered victim families and social activists working for them more is chain of acquittals in the five Dalit massacres of the 1990s in the undivided Bihar. Incidentally, both the killings and acquittals took place under such political regimes that claim to be champion of the cause of Dalits, weaker sections and minorities.

Family members of the slain Dalits are disheartened and devastated over the release of all the accused by the court for lack of evidence. The surviving family members are not only upset and sad over the verdict, they are also angry and feel there is nobody to do them justice.

“There is no one to do justice to the poor like us. We have only pain and misery in our life,” said Etwaria Devi in a choked voice.

Another resident of the village, Rajmani Devi, whose husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were killed in the massacre, said: “Who cares for justice to the poor? We have lost hope. It is bad news for us that all accused were acquitted.”

Both of them said they have no hope left as money and muscle power of the powerful feudal forces were responsible for the gruesome incident.

Police, government blamed for acquittals

Lakshman Ram, a village elderly, said most of the villagers were unhappy and angry over the court acquittal.

“The villagers are not ready to accept that the accused have been let off…,” said villager Ram, who also had lost a relative.

He also blamed the police and the state government for the acquittals. “The police did not file a strong chargesheet with solid evidence against them…,” he claimed.

Shankar Bigha is located near Lakshmanpur-Bathe where the Ranvir Sena killed 61 agricultural workers belonging to backward communities in December 1997.

“The court acquittals show that government machinery is not investigating the case properly. Such cases are govt. vs accused, that is why the govt. does not take it up properly and show laxity that result in acquittal of people of Ranvir Sena. Had they investigated properly and strengthened the chargesheet the court would not have acquitted them,” Mahendra Yadav, a social activist in Patna, told IndiaTomorrow.net.

When asked why this is happening when the state is ruled by those who claim to be champion of Dalits, poor and minorities, he said: “The police system is anti-people. There is huge corruption. Bureaucracy is filled with people who are biased. Sometimes the government itself wants to release the culprits even if they claim to be messiah of Dalits as they are well connected people.”

Yadav, who is associated with National Alliance For People’s Movement, demanded fresh probe into the case.

“The way these people have been acquitted so far, the govt. of Bihar should have ordered fresh probe because police have failed. They failed twice: First they could not preventthe incident, and then after the incident they could not punish the accused. The judiciary should also have been sensitive to the massacres and ordered fresh probe,” said Yadav.

Arshad Ajmal, an eminent social activist and community leader is Patna, expresses concern at the latest acquittal in the Dalit massacre case by a lower court:

Besides political empowerment, Dalits need intellectual and legal empowerment

“Earlier these people were getting acquittal from the high court and lower court was convicting them. But this is the first case in which a lower court has acquitted the people. It is first time and very distinct,” said Ajmal.

“In a similar case wherein Dalits were accused they were convicted. This relates to the perception and fairness of the judiciary.”

But he also point out the poor legal defence by Dalit organizations and criticizes them for relying wholly on political action to resolve such issues.

“I have been telling them (Dalit groups) that they do not invest in legal efforts. They think all such things will be solved through political action, but all things are not solved through political action. I am very critical of this. I put the example of Muslim youths picked in terror cases. Muslim organizations came up, though earlier they were hesitating. When they came up and fought the cases the accused are getting acquitted. Of course it is a big challenge, it involves a big cost. This is true. But they will have to do it,” said Ajmal who is known for setting up microfinance societies to economically uplift poor sections of the society in Bihar.

Why have these victims not got justice even ‘favourable’ governments have been at the helms for last two decades?

“I feel the governments of the poor are weak on legal front. They have just political assertion. If you want Dalit, weaker sections and minorities assert themselves, they will have to be empowered intellectually and legally. Political empowerment is one thing; only this will not solve issue. Intellectual, legal and governmental empowerment will also be required,” said Arshad Ajmal.

Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Yadav was in power when the massacres took place in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 while Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar is in power when the accused are being acquitted.

Five major acquittals in Dalit massacres cases in Bihar

In 2012, the Patna High Court acquitted 23 accused of Bathani Tola massacre of 1996 in which 21 Dalits were killed.

On Oct 9, 2013, the Patna High Court acquitted 26 accused of the Lakshmanpur-Bathe massacre of 1997.

On July 3, 2013, the high court acquitted nine of the 10 accused in the Miyanpur massacre case of 2000 in which the Ranvir Sena men allegedly killed 32 people in Aurangabad.

On March 1, 2013, the high court acquitted 11 convicted accused in the Nagari Bazaar massacre case in which 10 CPI-ML supporters, mostly Dalits, were killed in Bhojpur district in 1998.

On January 13, 2015, the Jehanabad court acquitted 24 accused in the Shankar Bigha massacre in which 24 Dalits were killed in Arwal district in 1999.

Follow the writer on Twitter @MumtazAlam1978

With inputs from IANS

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