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Jagmel's murder a reminder of brutal caste oppression in Malwa

Bathinda: Cases registered under the SC/ST Act might have fallen over the past three years in Punjab, but the murder of Jagmel Singh is a reminder of the brutal crimes committed against members of the Dalit community in the border state’s Malwa region.

Just like the attack on Jagmel, which hit the headlines a week ago just out of the sheer violence he suffered at the hands of four upper-caste men in his village, four similar cases rocked the state over the past decade — of Gurdev Kaur and Sukhchain Singh in October 2016, Bhim Tank in December 2015, and Bant Singh in January 2016.



Of these four, only Bant continues to live to tell the tale of how his seven attackers pinned him down in a field, and kept dropping a handpump on his legs to reduce it to a pulp of broken bones, flesh and blood, so that he could never walk again. He was rushed from Burj Jabbar village in Mansa to 200km away to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, where his legs and arm were amputated.

Cut to today, the attack on Jagmel was no different in violence: to avenge a spat they had with Jagmel on October 23, four men from Changaliwala village in Sangrur took him to the house of main accused Rinku and his father Amarjeet Singh on November 7 by promising to get him a medicine he needed. They tied their victim to a pole, rained lathi blows on both his legs, poured acid on them, and left him for the dead by a roadside.

Jagmel’s family was so poor it could take him to a hospital only a day later. He was taken to the civil hospitals in Lehra and Sunam towns, and Rajendra Government Hospital in Patiala, before being referred to the PGIMER. However, he had developed gangrene in his legs by then and his legs were amputated a day before he died of multiple organ failure on November 16.

Bhim Tank was 27 when his limbs and arms were chopped off as punishment by the liquor mafia on December 11, 2015. The attack had taken place at a farmhouse owned by liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda. Bhim’s accomplice, Gurjant, survived. Doda’s men wanted Bhim to work for them. When he refused, they attacked him. He succumbed to injuries at an Amritsar hospital.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and then Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, separately visited the bereaved family. A Fazilka court on August 8, 2019, sentenced 24 persons, including Doda and nephew Amit, to life imprisonment.

An academician at Panjab University, who is studying the patterns of attacks on Dalits, blames the mindset of upper castes behind the attacks. “Even with changing times, many people from upper castes still feel privileged and that Dalits are not equal to them. Whenever Dalits try to assert their rights, members from upper castes feel their authority is being challenged and the perpetrators then indulge in such crimes,” says Prof. Ronki Ram, who is in the political science department of PU.

He says though the biggest concentration of Dalits is in the Doaba region of Punjab, there are fewer attacks there as the community is more united there. “The government needs to ensure exemplary punishment,” he adds.

Like Bhim, Sukhchain (20) of Gharangna village in Mansa had to pay the price for working for a liquor contractor. Alleged members of the liquor mafia killed him on the night of October 10, 2016, and chopped off his left leg and took it along. The police could trace the missing leg only after nearly 40 hours, from the bushes outside the village.

About 16km from Jagmel’s village, nearly 20 Dalits were forced to leave their homes in Jhaloor village of Sangrur on October 7, 2016. The victims were left injured after a dispute over the community share in the village common land. The injured were not even allowed to get treatment in nearby state government-run hospitals. Three injured were women were treated at faraway hospitals. While Gurdev Kaur, who being treated at PGIMER, died, the two others — Amarjit Kaur (65) and Balbir Kaur (50) — were treated at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.

Bant Singh (50), who has now turned into an icon of the Dalit struggle in Punjab, says members of the community were still treated like second-class citizens. “They treat us worse than their dogs. It is only an illusion that society’s perception has changed with time. Look at Jagmel’s case.”

Bant is now getting a disablility pension of Rs 750 per month as disabled pension. “They have not even provided me a wheelchair,” he says. “Politicians look to us only during elections.”

the authorities even not provided wheelchair for my mobility which was donated by some individuals.

Lachhman Singh Sewewala, the general secretary of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union who continues to fight for Dalit rights, blames the mentality of upper castes to ensure Dalits’ social status was not brought a par with theirs.

Gut-Churning Crimes

Bant Singh | On July 6, 2002, Bant Singh’s elder daughter was raped. To avenge jail terms given to his daughter’s upper caste rapists, seven men attacked him on January 5, 2006. His legs and an arm were amputated at PGIMER, Chandigarh. The seven men were sentenced to 7 years in prison. At present, they are on bail

Bhim Tank | The 27-year-old man’s legs and arms were chopped off on December 11, 2015. The crime took place at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Fazilka district’s Abohar town, owned by liquor baron Shiv Lal Doda. A Fazilka court on August 8, 2019, sentenced 24 persons, including Doda and his nephew Amit, to life imprisonment

Sukhchain Singh | The 20-year-old Dalit youth was murdered at his village, Gharangna in Mansa district on October 10, 2016. Alleged members of the liquor mafia killed him and then chopped off his left leg. The police could trace the leg only after 40 hours, left in the bushes outside the village

Crimes under SC/ST Act

2015 147

2016 132

2017 118

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