Lok Janshakthi Party president Ram Vilas Paswan has said that the Paramakudi firing incident is a fit case for initiating criminal proceedings against the police officers concerned.
He was on a tour of Paramakudi and surrounding areas on Tuesday to get first-hand information about the firing, which claimed the lives of six Dalits.
Terming the police action “atrocious” and “inhuman,” Mr. Paswan said though he had come across many incidents perpetuated against Dalits in different parts of the country in the past, the Paramakudi firing was one of the most terrible attacks. The victims were pointedly fired at above their chest. The indiscriminate attack had cast a shadow on police of Tamil Nadu, which he regarded as a pioneering State as far as social justice was concerned.
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He demanded that the police officers concerned be booked under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The case should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation and an exclusive court established to complete the trial in six months.
Complimenting The Hindu for its balanced coverage of the incident, Mr. Paswan said that he had met the President Pratiba Patil a few days ago and presented a petition along with the reports carried by The Hindu to seek her intervention in the matter.
A high-level meeting of the Dalits and Minorities National Front had been convened at Nagpur on September 28 to discuss the issue.
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Mr. Paswan said that the government should announce compensation of Rs.20 lakh each to the kin of victims and Rs.5 lakh to those injured.
Besides, at least one person from each victim's family should be given government job.