Most atrocities against Dalits registered in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and against Adivasis in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh: Home Ministry report

New Delhi— There has been a consistent rise in cases of crimes against Dalits and Adivasi in the country. The data presented by the union government during the monsoon session clearly show no indication of a reduction in the incidents of persecution of Adivasis and Dalits.

According to data tabled in the Lok Sabha, between 2018 and 2020cases of crimes against Dalits and Adivasis rose steadily. Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra presented the figures in the Lok Sabha in response to a question raised by Congress MP Komati Reddy and TRS [Telangana Rashtra Samithi] MP Manne Srinivas Reddy, both from Telangana. It is clear from these data that in the two years between 2018 and 2020, there has been a rise in atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis.

On the one hand, according to the data tabled in Parliament, 42,793 cases of atrocities against Dalits were reported in 2018. Two years later, that is, in 2020, the figure had risen to 50,000. On the other hand, if we consider Adivasis, 6,528 cases of crimes against them were reported in the year 2018, increasing to 8,272 in the year 2020. In 2019, according to the data presented, 45,961 cases were reported against Dalits, and 7,570 crimes against Adivasiswere registered.

UP and Bihar: unsafe for Dalits

According to the data tabled in Parliament, the persecution of Dalits is highest in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In 2018, 11,924 such cases were registered in Uttar Pradesh alone. In 2019, 11,829 cases were registered, increasing to 12,714 in the year 2020. On the other hand, considering the case of Bihar, 7,061 crimes were reported here in 2018. The number came down to 6,544 in 2019, but in the year 2020, the figures rose again to reach 7,368. On the basis of the data, persecution of Dalits and Adivasis is highest in the Hindi belt.

Persecution of Adivasis in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan

The maximum cases of crimes against Adivasis have been recorded in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In the year 2018, there were 1,868 cases of atrocities against Adivasis. Which decreased to 1,845 in 2019, but rose once again to 2,401 in the year 2020. On the other hand, 1,095 cases were registered in Rajasthan in the year 2018. Which increased to 1,797 in 2019. But in the year 2020, this figure rose once again to reach 1,878.

SC commission largely savarna

In view of the rising number of crimes against Dalits and Adivasis in the country, The Mooknayak team spoke to Adivasi social activist Hansraj Meena. Hansraj Meena explained that the major reason for the ever-increasing cases of atrocities in the country is the government, "Whether it is the state or the center, no one is concerned about the oppressed. All politicians do is to put the blame on each other for the incidents."

Meena says that even when cases [of crimes against] people of our communities are registered, no proper action is taken on them. The most important reason for this is the absence of people from our communities in the [SC] commission. The government has set up the commission all right, but the people working in it are mostly savarna [oppressor-caste]. So how can we think that people will get justice?

Most horrific case happened in these two years

According to the response given in the monsoon session, the highest number of crimes against Dalits was registered in Uttar Pradesh. The Hathras rape incident also happened in the reported period, in the year 2020, and in which the victim's family is still waiting for justice. Let us remind you that the savarna accused from the village raped the victim and then threw her body in the fields. This incident happened in the evening. When the victim had gone with her mother to collect fodder. After the incident, the victim fought for her life in the hospital for nine days. But in the end, she breathed her last at Safdarganj Hospital in Delhi. But most shocking was the local administration's action, when without giving access to the body to the victim's relatives, the victim's body was cremated at midnight.

Over in Rajasthan, a Dalit youth named Jitendra Meghwal has been murdered for keeping a mustache. In June [this year], five members of an Adivasi family in Madhya Pradesh have been brutally murdered.

यहाँ हिन्दी में भी पढ़ें: दलित-आदिवासियों के खिलाफ अपराध का ग्राफ बढ़ा, संसद में पेश किए गए आंकड़े चौंकाने वाले

[Story Translated By Lotika Singha]