CJP moves NCSC against rising anti-Dalit incidents since July, provides detailed reports on 11 incidents

Marginalised communities live with fear and uncertainty as they face lynching’s, murder, harassment, and public humiliation nationwide.

A complaint has been filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) highlighting the accelerating amount of anti-Dalit incidents taking place over the length and breadth of our country. A total of eleven incidents have been highlighted in the complaint, having been reported from the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Any action that has been taken by the police in each of these cases has also been provided in the complaint. Through the complaint, CJP has sought stringent action against the alleged perpetrators as well as intervention by the commission for a fair investigation and monitoring of the prosecution.

The complaint states “Respected Sir, in addition to highlighting the instances of anti-Dalit atrocities above, we have also provided the status of the action taken by the police over them. Through this complaint, we are urging that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes to closely monitor the case through the investigation and prosecution to ensure that substantive and exemplary justice is delivered.”

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In the petition, CJP has highlighted the plight of Dalits living in India. While giving detailed accounts of the offences that have taken place in the country since July 2023. The complaint states that “These anti-Dalit incidents depict a manifestation of the troubling psyche that is behind caste discrimination, urgently requiring for an increase in conviction in cases of such kind.”

CJP has further emphasised the gravity of the situation and the need for providing protection to the families of the victims under the existing law to ensure that the perpetrators, most of whom belong to the dominant caste, are unable to further harass the family into withdrawing their complaint. The complaint underscores the provisions under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 which provide for protection to families of the victims. These sections are- Section 15 A (Rights of victims and witnesses) and Section 21 (Duty of Government to ensure effective implementation of the Act) of the SC/ST Act.

Pointing towards the blatant discrimination faced by Dalits, CJP wrote in its complaint, “The denial of basic human rights to Dalits is a grave concern. These incidents are a classic example of blatant discrimination and social prejudices against the Dalits. Their trauma and ignominy of the targeted crime is made worse by the hurdles in the access to justice.” Worrying statistics of increasing number of atrocities against Dalit since 2014 were also provided in the complaint to highlight the current caste oppressive environment in India, wherein people belonging to the dominant class have the power and audacity to act in an unlawful, exploitative and vicious way towards the Dalit community.

The details about these incidents may be read in the CJP complaint here:

Courtesy : Sabrang India

Note: This news piece was originally published in sabrangindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right