More than four years after he was beaten to death by activists of a fringe right-wing group, the relatives of IT professional Mohsin Shaikh finally received compensation from the Maharashtra government.
Through a Government Resolution the State Revenue Department announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh from the State fund and a matching amount from the Central fund.
The GR directed authorities at the Pune Collectorate to hand over the ₹10 lakh to Shaikh’s family.
Shaikh, 28, was beaten to death allegedly by activists of the Hindu Rashtra Sena on the night of June 2, 2014, in Hadapsar, Pune.
The then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government led by Prithviraj Chavan had given his family a compensation of ₹5 lakh soon after the crime.
Shaikh’s father, Sadiq Shaikh, had approached the Human Rights Law Network in July last year to secure substantial government compensation; the HRLN is a collective of lawyers working towards providing legal assistance to vulnerable sections of society.
“The HRLN had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court. I believe this has prompted the State government to finally act and provide us compensation,” Mr. Sadiq Shaikh told The Hindu .
‘No job yet’
In August 2014, a three-member panel of the National Commission for Minorities had visited Pune to assess the situation in the strife-torn parts of the city.
It had made a number of demands on behalf of the Shaikh family, including raising of government compensation and providing a government job to Mohsin’s brother, Mobin Shaikh.
“Both the erstwhile Congress-NCP, and the present BJP governments have only doled out assurances. No job has ever been given to my second son, Mobin,” said Sadiq Shaikh.
“This (compensation) is too little and too late,” said Anjum Inamdar of the Rashtrapremi Kruti Samiti, an outfit working for the rights of minority and backward groups.
Mr. Inamdar said the State government’s long-delayed decision smacked of discrimination and apathy towards the welfare of minorities.
