By TCN News,
New Delhi: To push for justice to the victims of and to commemorate the Bathani Tola massacre of 1996, a national convention is being organized here in the national capital on 15th July. Survivors of the massacre besides concerned citizens, activists, and political leaders will address the convention at Speakers’ Hall, Constitution Club (12pm to 6pm). A civil group called Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola has organized the program.
Some 21 landless poor – mostly women and children from dalit and extremely backward castes – were massacred by the Ranveer Sena on 11 July 1996. Recently, in a shocking verdict, Patna High Court acquitted all those accused for the massacre. The survivors of the massacre – who lost several members of their family, and have bravely stood witness in court – are appealing the verdict in the Supreme Court.
A range of concerned citizens have come together to form ‘Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola’ as a platform to take forward the struggle for justice for Bathani Tola and other victims of feudal, communal, and state-sponsored massacres.
“Recent events in Bihar have underlined that though the Ranveer Sena is no longer active, the feudal and communal forces continue to wield political influence and power in today’s Bihar. Following the killing of Ranveer Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh, his supporters unleashed violence and arson on dalit hostels in Ara. In the past year, a large number of Muslim youth from Darbhanga have become victims of the anti-terror witch-hunt – incarcerated, killed, and even ‘disappeared’ in custody without the slightest evidence against them,” said the organizers in a statement.
To commemorate the Bathani anniversary in Delhi, Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola has organized the Convention entitled “Justice for Bathani Tola 1996: Punish the Guilty” on 15th July, which will be addressed by the survivors of the Bathani Tola massacre as well as students from Ara’s dalit hostels. A documentary on Bathani Tola massacre will also be released on the occasion.
A Fact-finding Report on Witch-Hunt of Muslims in Darbhanga will also be presented at the convention.
Citizens for Justice for Bathani Tola has eminent members of the civil society including
Anand Patwardhan, Bela Bhatia, Uma Chakravarty, Anand Chakravarty, Anand Teltumbde, V Geetha, Seema Mustafa, Hiren Gohain, Tulsi Ram, Tanika Sarkar, Nirmalangshu Mukherjee, Simpson (Odukapattor Viduthalai Munnani, Tamilnadu), Ajay Bharadwaj, Jaya Mehta, Nivedita Menon, Anand Pradhan, Kiran Shaheen, Anil Chamaria, Nirmala Putul, PK Vijayan, Sanghamitra Mishra, Kamal Chenoy, Anuradha Chenoy, KJ Mukherjee, Jaspal Singh Siddhu, Ashok Bhowmick, Manglesh Dabral, Pranay Krishna, Sudhir Suman, Chittaranjan Singh, Satya Sivaraman, Kavita Krishnan, Uma Gupta.