People's Democracy

ATTACK ON DALITS IN GOHANA

CPI(M) Calls For Widespread Protest

A THREE-member team of the state secretariat of the CPI(M) rushed to Gohana on August 31 on getting the news of loot and burning of houses of Balmiki community in Gohana. Party state secretary Inderjit Singh and secretariat members Surender Singh and Virendra Malik on reaching Gohana found that many of the houses which had been torched were still burning. The team talked to members of the victim families, including a woman who had taken shelter in a nearby house. The team inspected all the houses which had been attacked and burned and collected information about this heinous act from a cross section of local population.

The team after coming back from Gohana briefed the media about the callous attitude of the local administration and alleged that there was a tacit support for the attack from its side which is evident from the irresponsible and mischievous statements made by the officials thereafter.

The Party state committee has given a call for statewide protest on September 2 against this attack and has appealed to all mass organisations and trade unions to raise their voice in condemnation and also simultaneously isolate those elements which are trying to     incite caste hatred among the masses.

The team said that most of the Balmiki families had fled their house because of continuous threatening and targeting of the total Balmiki community in the aftermath of the condemnable murder of a youth named Baljeet Singh Siwach on August 27. It is to be noted that the administration is guilty of criminal ignorance in providing security to the Balmiki community. In spite of repeated threatening calls made by anti-social elements in the last two days saying they would destroy the entire colony, the administration did nothing to avoid such a threat from becoming reality.

According to the CPI(M) team, many victims and people of the town have alleged the involvement of BJP MP from Sonepat, Kishen Singh Sangwan, particularly his son and family members, of active involvement  in this gruesome attack.

Another thing noticed by the CPI(M) team was that it was a totally pre-planned attack in which petrol and fire crackers were widely used and the houses of Balmiki were targeted selectively for loot and arson. It also felt that this would not have been possible without the involvement of local anti-social elements and the administration's tacit support to the attack.

The Haryana state secretariat of the CPI(M) while strongly condemning the Gohana attack has demanded the immediate arrest of all people involved in this incident; action against responsible officials on duty; unbiased and fair inquiry of the total incident; optimum compensation to the victim dalit families and sufficient security for their immediate rehabilitation.

The CPI(M) while expressing anguish and surprise over the silence of chief minister on this episode said that he cannot escape from his responsibility and accountability as he was also incharge of home ministry in the state.

DEMONSTRATION IN DELHI ON SEPT 3

The CPI(M) Delhi state committee strongly condemned the targeted and pre-planned  burning down of over 50 houses of Balmikis in Gohana. It has decided to organise a demonstration on September 3, 2005 to protest against this dastardly attack and appealed to the people to join it in a big way.

In a statement issued on September 1, Party state secretary P M S Grewal stated that the attack took place with the connivance of the DC and SP of the district who were in Gohana at the time of the attack. "The shameless excuse of the police that their forthright intervention would have led to loss of lives is reminiscent of similar justification advanced by them for the lynching of five dalits in Duleena in Jhajjar.

With the BJP MP from Sonepat, Kishan Singh Sangwan behind this attack, the ugly anti-dalilt face of the BJP is once again exposed, he stated