Dalits living in Shobhapur village of Meerut protested against “police atrocities”, alleging that the local police had filed false cases under serious charges of the IPC after their protests on Bharat bandh on April 2. The villagers on Monday threatened to convert to Islam on Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 if the “police atrocities” continue.
Many of them have been booked on charges of attacking and torching a police post and attempt to murder of a policeman during the violence which ensued that day.
An atmosphere of fear pervaded the village after a Dalit leader Gopi Pariya was identified and gunned down by members of the Gujjar community on April 3. While the local police denied an exodus of Dalits, members of the community said many had left Shobhapur and were scared of returning in the wake of the police action.
‘Being framed’
At a meeting on Monday, Dalits from Shobhapur held declared they were “being illegally framed and harassed by the police for raising their voice against injustice”.
“No one from the administration is listening to us and our problems. False cases have been slapped against our youths who are scared of returning the village. It seems that we no longer are Hindus or even citizens with equal rights. We are being treated as outcasts so what is the point of being a Hindu any more,” said a villager, at the meeting, requesting anonymity as he feared police action.
“Over four dozen Dalits attended the meeting. We have decided that we will renounce Hinduism on the birth anniversary of Baba sahab Ambedkar, April 14. Many more Dalits will join us in coming days,” he added.
Village abandoned
“Most houses are locked. The lanes remain abandoned. The market in the Dalit area of the village remains shut and so are schools. People have left the village because they are scared and silent because they fear police action,” he claimed.
However, Superintendent of Police Man Singh Chauhan told The Hindu the police was not aware of such plans for mass conversion . He rejected the allegations of police “atrocities” and said there was no discrimination in the functioning of the SIT, constituted to probe the violence during the Bharat bandh. Two people were killed, many others injured and several public properties were torched in the violence which occurred during the Bharat bandh on April 2.
