This is second of the two part series report about the brutal killing of a dalit family in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district and the subsequent agitation it has sparked because police is yet to arrest anybody for the ghastly crime.
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: It’s been more than a week that three members of a dalit family were killed in Jawkheda Khalasa under Pathardi tehsil of Ahmednagar district but the police are still clueless about the perpetrators. It has resulted in Maharashtra witnessing an increased protest from various community organizations demanding immediate arrest and harsher punishment.
Sanjay Jagannath Jadhav (42), his wife Jayshri (38) and son Sunil (20) were brutally chopped off to death on October 21 at their house at Jadhavbasti, a locality of backward class and Muslim households, about 5 kms away from the main village. Sanjay was a mason, Jayshri, a housewife, while Sunil pursed a degree in Dairy Science at Mumbai and had come home for Diwali just three days ago.
The village is low profile, with no background of dalit movement during last few decades, but this was the third occurrence of dalit murders in the same district in recent past. In January 2013, three dalit residents of Sonai were murdered allegedly by members of upper caste Maratha community while a 17-year-old dalit boy of Kharde village was murdered for allegedly having an affair with an upper caste girl.
This triple murder created uproar in the dalit community in Maharashtra due to continued violence meted out against the community members- especially rural dalits. Scores of dalit organizations across Maharashtra are holding protests at various places with demand of protecting the community against unwarranted killings.
Earlier on October 25, Governor C Vidyasagar Rao directed the State Director General of Police Sanjeev Dayal to appoint a Special Task Force (STF) to probe the murders. On their part, the police have deployed more than 100 policemen and eight separate teams have been constituted for the investigation.
Political and social protests and demonstrations:
Scores of political leaders, social leaders and socio-cultural organizations have hit the road, some literally, to demand justice in the tragic case. For instance, on October 28, social crusader Anna Hazare condemned the brutal murder and demanded strict action against the culprits.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who visited Jawkheda Khalasa on October 24, too strongly condemned the murders and urged the political parties to come together to help relatives of the victims.
Incidentally, RPI chief Ramdas Athavale visited Jawkheda on October 22, immediately the next day of the incident, and demanded a CID probe. He suspected the murders to be a result of caste violence. Athavale had also given a call for Ahmednagar district ‘bandh’ on October 30 but the plan reportedly fizzled out due to intra-party disputes. However, the party has announced to go ahead with agitations.
Agitations and protests across state:
Ahmednagar: The district continue to remain tense due to Dalit organisations blocking roads and staging rallies protesting Maharashtra police’s failure to nab the perpetrators of the gruesome triple murder even a week after the incident. Activists of the Republican Party of India (A) blocked State Highway 10, from Pune to Ahmednagar, demanding that the killers be apprehended and justice be meted out swiftly. According to a report in The Hindu, “We want the killers to be hanged and Rs 15 lakh given as compensation to the kith and kin of the bereaved,” RPI (A) leader Sunil Salve said during a rasta roko in Ahmednagar.
Activists of the Bharatiya Republican Party Bahujan Mahasangh too held an agitation on October 27 demanding arrest of the murderers. The party has planned a further series of agitations in the city including ‘rasta roko’ and protest rallies to condemn the incident.
Activists of Buddhist Society of India too handed a memorandum to the district collector demanding state CID investigation in the triple murder. “At a time when Dalits in the state are under depression due to murders of their community members at Sonai and Harda, the new mysterious triple murder has hurt the community further. There is an utmost need to control violence directed against the minority dalit community on the state,” the memorandum stated.
Chembur (Mumbai): Hundreds of RPI activists held protest in Chumbur (Mumbai) on October 28 from Ambedkar Garden to Basant Police station. A memorandum was handed over to Additional Police commissioner demanding to immediately deliver justice in approximate 10000 criminal cases of violence against Dalits in the state. Another demand set out was to instantly apprehend murderer of Jadhav family.
The same day, RPI (A) activists staged demonstration in front of the district collector office demanding immediate arrest and to award capital punishment to the murderers. Activists were aggrieved with police’s halfhearted investigation in the gruesome triple murder case, newspapers reported.
RPI – Bahujan Mahasangh activists too presented memorandum to district collector the same day demanding a special police investigation team to probe the case in detail and to declare Ahmednagar a sensitive district. It also demanded proper schemes to control violence against dalits in the state.
Navi Mumbai: Around 100 dalit community members of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Samajik and Sanskrutik Mandal took out a silent rally from Mulgandhkuti Buddha Vihar in sector 13 from New Panvel to Khanda Colony on October 26 to seek justice for Jadhav family.
Yavatmal: Elsewhere in the state too, the issue reverberated within the dalit and other communities for instance, a dalit organization based in Yavatmal, National Ambedkar Guard (NAG), has announced to hold a sit-in with other social and related organization on November 1 demanding security to rural dalits with many other appeals. NAG has appealed to the dalits to attend the protest and register their anger against violence against dalits in the state.
Pune: Several organizations staged a rasta roko on October 29 at Mangalwar Peth while the Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh took out a candle march at Ghorpadi. The Republican Party of India, Patit Pawan Sanghatana, and NCP activists agitated at Jaybhavani Nagar demanding severe punishment to those responsible for crime against dalits murder.
Jagannath Jadhav, father of the deceased Sanjay Jadhav
More protests planned
There was a total shut down in Ahmednagar district called by the Republican Party of India (A) on October 23 protesting the failure of the police to make a breakthrough in the triple murder of the dalit family. RPI (A) president Ramdas Athawale threatened further state wide agitation if culprits are not apprehended soon.
“It is dismaying that the police cannot solve a murder of this magnitude in a sparsely populated area even after a lapse of eight days. As chances of solving it is dimming, we will call for another shutdown in Ahmednagar district and this will be followed by a state-wide agitation to bring the killers of Pathardi to book,” Athawale had told mediapersons.
Similarly, Siddharth Maitray Bahu Uddeshiy Sanstha too condemned the brutal killings and has called for immediate arrest and stern punishment.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress president Manikrao Thakare, who had visited Jadhav family on October 23 and announced Rs 2 lakh help to the family from his party, too threatened a state wide protest against police inaction. Former minister Radha Krushna Vikhe also visited victims’ family the same day and assured of talking with police commissioner to instantly solve the case.
What police say?
Inspector-General of Police (Nashik Range) Pravin Salunkhe said more than 100 policemen are investigating the case and eight separate teams have been constituted. But he did not divulge the investigation status, instead said his teams are tracing call records of the murdered family and assured of cracking the case soon.
(Photos courtesy Sudhir Pedgaonkar)
Related:
Part one of the series ‘Maharashtra Dalit Murders: Jawkheda – Anatomy of a dalit triple murder’ can be read here.