Dalit community angry over the suspicious death of Ganesh Valmiki, family accused police of murder, Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders expressed condolences.
Hisar (Haryana): The deadlock over the suspicious death of 16-year-old Dalit student Ganesh Valmiki during police action in Hisar is expected to come to an end on Friday. The family, which refused to take the body for 10 days and was protesting demanding justice, has now agreed to the last rites. The family is alleging that Ganesh died due to the police pushing him off the roof.
The issue made national headlines on Thursday when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the BJP government over it.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter in Hindi, “When power sits in the lap of Manuwadi thinking, the lives of Dalits have no value! The murder of Dalit youth Ganesh Valmiki in Hisar, Haryana and the brutality done to his family is not just a crime – it is the ugly face of the Manuwadi system of BJP-RSS which considers the lives of Bahujans in India today as cheap, which does not consider them worthy of equality and respect.”
After this, former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi also reached Hisar and met the victim’s family. A day before this, senior Dalit leader of the party Kumari Selja also met the family and expressed support.
Although the Haryana government has already formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Social Justice Minister Krishna Bedi also met the family, but the family continued to sit on a dharna outside the Hisar Civil Hospital, where Ganesh’s body is kept. On Monday, a large number of people from the Dalit community held a Mahapanchayat and supported the demands of the family. On Thursday, Haryana Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Krishan Bedi, while talking to the media, claimed that a settlement has now been reached.
He said, “We are in constant touch with the representatives of the family. Today a meeting was held at the Chief Minister’s residence in which Ganesh’s father Vikram, uncle Dinesh and other people from the Dalit community participated. The matter has been resolved. We will go to Hisar on Friday morning and perform the last rites.”
The government, meanwhile, for the first time, also issued a notice to the family under the Haryana Respectful Cremation Act, 2024, according to which if the family refuses to accept the body, the administration can ensure timely and dignified cremation.
What happened on the night of July 7?
The incident took place on the night of July 7, when the police received a complaint that loud music was being played on loudspeakers in the area even after 10 pm. According to the police, Ganesh and his friends were celebrating a birthday and were attacked when the police tried to stop them.
Police claim that Ganesh and his friend Akash then ran to the roof of a nearby house and jumped from there. Ganesh died on the spot, while Akash was injured. Police are now looking for 10-15 more youths who were allegedly involved in the attack on the police.
Meanwhile, Ganesh’s family alleges that the police pushed him off the roof, and they are demanding a murder case to be registered against the accused policemen. Police have also released some CCTV footage in their favor.
In a video, Ganesh is seen standing on his roof at 9 pm. At 10:45 pm he is seen lying on a cot on the road outside his house. At 10:55 pm two youths come on a bike with a big loudspeaker and loud music is played there. At 11:32 pm, when the group of youths is dancing on the road, the police reaches there. In the video, it can be seen that the youths attack with sticks and pelt stones, due to which the policemen had to take shelter in a nearby house.
Injured Akash has admitted in his statement to the police that they attacked the police and when the police chased them, both of them jumped from the roof to escape. During this, Ganesh died while he was injured.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) K.K. Rao said, “The police is ready for a polygraph test. We were just protecting ourselves. People in the area had complained about loud music.” However, the entire incident has once again brought to the fore serious issues like accountability of police action and alleged discrimination against the Dalit community. The demand for justice is now becoming the demand of the entire society, not just one family.
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy : Hindi News