Karnataka to discuss Scheduled Tribe status for Kuruba community on September 16
Karnataka will hold a meeting on September 16 to consider including the Kuruba community in the Scheduled Tribe list as a synonym of the Gonda tribe. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, himself a Kuruba, could be recognised as Dalit if reclassified. The move precedes his statewide caste census. The Karnataka government has scheduled a key meeting on September 16 at 3 pm in Vikas Soudha, Bengaluru, to examine the inclusion of the Kuruba community of Bidar, Kalaburagi, and Yadgir districts in the Scheduled Tribe list. An official notice dated September 12 confirms the session, to be chaired by an IAS officer from the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Tribes. Kurubas, currently classified as Other Backward Class (OBC), have for years sought ST status, arguing it would bring greater benefits and protections. The community also wields significant political influence in Karnataka. The move carries added political weight because Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, himself a Kuruba and the state’s Tribal Welfare Minister, would be recognised as a Dalit if the community is reclassified. Officials from multiple departments and welfare boards have been directed to attend the meeting, which will specifically look at recognising the Kurubas of the three northern districts as part of the Gonda ST group. This meeting comes just days before Siddaramaiah’s fresh caste census, a statewide Socio-Economic and Educational Survey scheduled between September 22 and October 7. The Chief Minister has said the new survey is crucial to capture current social realities and design welfare programmes, after the 2015 caste census was set aside. Nagarjun Dwarakanath Courtesy : India Today Note: This news is originally published on https:/indiatoday.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Kerala elections: Congress in search of Dalit and tribal faces, decades of neglect proving costly?
Till the 1980s, the party was full of prominent Dalit leaders, but factionalism ruined everything. Now finding candidates for 16 reserved seats has also become a big challenge. Kochi: The preparations for the assembly elections to be held in Kerala in May next year have intensified, but the Congress party is stuck in a strange difficulty. The party is struggling to find its Dalit and tribal candidates just before the elections. This turmoil has exposed a bitter truth that the party has failed miserably in preparing and promoting new leaders from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. The result is that the party is feeling very weak on the 16 reserved seats (14 SC and 2 ST) of the state. A golden past, which is now only in memories This difference between the past and the present is very clear. By the mid-1980s, the Congress had no dearth of stalwart leaders from backward communities. Names like Vella Echaran Iyani, M. P. Thami, K. K. Balakrishnan, K. Raghavan Master, Damodaran Kalassery, P. K. Velayudhan, K. K. Madhavan, T. K. C. Vaduthala, Kittappa Narayana Swamy and Dr. M. A. Kuttappan not only gave the party legislative strength but also had a strong grassroots hold. These leaders were not just candidates but mass leaders who were deeply respected in the society. Factionalism ruined the party But as factionalism within the party deepened in the late 1980s and 90s, Dalit and tribal representation shrunk. Political analyst Dizo Kappan says, “The main reason for the failure to promote SC/ST leaders in the Congress was the never-ending infighting between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups. This factionalism prevented the emergence of new leaders and created a vacuum that has not been filled till date.” Dependence on old faces a problem This vacuum has become a major challenge for the party today. For decades, the party’s leadership has depended on a handful of “safe” names, most prominent among them being Kodikunnil Suresh and Pandalam Sudhakaran. Kodikunnil, who was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, is still an MP, while Sudhakaran has been active in politics since his first election in 1982. Critics believe that these two leaders have effectively closed the doors for younger leaders. Ramesh Mathew, a former journalist and longtime Congress watcher, says, “The Congress is unable to think of any new names other than Kodikunnil and Sudhakaran. After some issues surfaced regarding Remya Haridas, the party can only blame itself for this situation.” It is clear that the party’s bench strength is worryingly weak. The party has no ready options for the 16 reserved seats. On the other hand, the CPM and the BJP are apparently trying to groom Dalit and tribal candidates, which has increased the Congress’s worries even more. Leadership admits mistake, promises change A senior Congress source acknowledged the crisis, but insisted that change is coming. “The AICC now wants fresh faces from the fishermen, SC and ST communities, not old and tired faces like Kodikunnil and [T.N.] Prathapan. We have identified some promising new faces, and 2026 will see a clear generational change,” he said. According to sources, Sajithamol, the widow of Pathanamthitta District Congress Committee (DCC) vice-president and district panchayat member M.G. Kannan, who died in May this year at the age of 42, could be one of the Congress’ choices from the backward community for the Assembly election. Return to power at stake In the 140-member Assembly, these 16 reserved seats could prove to be decisive. Losing ground on this front could mean a dash to the Congress’ hopes of returning to power. Kottayam’s P.R. Leaders like Sona – who is educated, holds a doctorate degree and is active in social work – represent the kind of profile the party should have cultivated years ago. Instead, sources say, the neglect of Dalit leadership at the grassroots has left the Congress today scrambling across the state for credible candidates at the last minute. It is ironic that a party that once produced stalwarts like K.K. Balakrishnan – who held several ministerial portfolios, including Harijan Welfare and Transport – and a staunch Ambedkarite like Dr. Kuttappan, who reached the Assembly despite factional sabotage, is today struggling to find even a few well-known Dalit leaders. As the countdown to the elections begins, the Congress is realising that the mistake of ignoring and sidelining its Dalit and tribal leaders for decades cannot be undone by a mere search for candidates. The past is fast catching up with them – and the party may pay a heavy price for it. Rajan Chaudhary Courtesy : Hindi News
Rajasthan: Dalit farmer’s field fence burnt in Balotra, caste abuses and death threats alleged
Dalit farmer assaulted and threatened in Tapra village of Balotra; field fence burnt, police accused of delaying action Rajasthan: A tense situation prevails over the field of a Dalit farmer in Tapra village of Balotra district. It is alleged that the nearby farm owner not only set the field fence on fire, but also hurled caste abuses and threatened to kill him. The incident took place in the field of Chhagna Ram Meghwal, where Mohanlal Bhil was working in the field. The victim Mohanlal says that the neighboring farm owner, Ummed Singh, was constantly pressurizing him and tried to attack him several times. The victim’s side also claims that they have a video of the incident, in which the accused Ummed Singh is seen openly hurling caste abuses, beating him and threatening to kill him with a sword. Recently, the accused set the farm fence on fire, causing great damage. In this case, Mohanlal Bhil has lodged an FIR in the police station. However, the villagers allege that the police delayed taking action by two days and have not yet shown the required seriousness in the matter. Villagers demand strict action The Dalit community and the people of the village have united and demanded from the administration that strict action should be taken against the accused. They say that such incidents are creating an atmosphere of fear in the society. They have also expected the police to take this matter with sensitivity and take immediate and fair action on the complaints of the Dalit community, so that the victim’s family can get justice. Sharvan Kumar Courtesy : Hindi News
Tamil Nadu: Class 12 Dalit student stripped and beaten, two arrested: Know the full story
Class 12 student stripped and beaten in Chennai, two arrested including former BJP leader . Chennai: The Secretariat Colony police have arrested two people under the Scheduled Castes/Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for assaulting and misbehaving with a Class 12 student. The incident took place when the boy went to meet a Class 10 girl student at her home. The arrested accused have been identified as Saravanan and his brother Logesh. According to the police, Saravanan was earlier reported to be an office bearer of a political party. The police said that the girl’s mother has also lodged a complaint against the boy under the POCSO Act. The mother alleges that the boy exploited her daughter, although no case has been registered in this matter yet. What is the whole matter? According to the police, the 17-year-old boy and the girl studied in the same school in Choolaimedu and were friends since then. Later, the schools of both of them were separated, but they remained in constant touch through social media. On Friday, when the boy went to meet the girl at her house in Secretariat Colony, some of the girl’s relatives locked him in a room. After this, they called Saravanan. It is alleged that Saravanan and Logesh together beat up the boy brutally and took off his clothes. Later, he was released. Rajan Chaudhary Courtesy : Hindi News
Teen Dalit stripped, assaulted in Chennai; Two arrested
The Class 12 boy was in a relationship with his classmate from a different caste. A 17-year-old Dalit boy was allegedly stripped, assaulted, and abused for visiting a girl at her home in Chennai on Friday, September 12. Two men have been arrested. According to the police, the teenager was in a relationship with the girl from a different caste. They were classmates and studied in a school located in Choolaimedu, a significant residential and commercial neighbourhood in Central Chennai. When her parents became aware of the relationship, they sent her away to live with her grandmother in Secretariat Colony. However, the teenagers continued to stay in contact through social media even after moving to different schools. On Friday, the boy went to Secretariat Colony to visit her and was caught red-handed by the two accused, Logesh and his brother Sravanan. The Dalit teenager was violently attacked. Local reports suggest Sravanan was affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Based on the Dalit boy’s parents’ complaint, a case was registered under the SC/ST Act along with other sections related to assault, wrongful confinement, and criminal intimidation. The duo was arrested on the same day. Posted by Veena Nair Courtesy : The Siasat Daily Note: This news is originally published on https:/thesiasatdaily.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Mad scramble for Dalit candidates in Kerala: Congress may pay price for neglect
Kodikunnil, first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, remains an MP, while Sudhakaran has held sway since his Wandoor debut in 1982. KOCHI: As Kerala races towards the assembly election next May, the Congress is in a desperate eleventh-hour search for Dalit and tribal candidates. The scramble has laid bare a bitter truth: The party has failed to groom and promote leaders from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, leaving itself exposed in 16 reserved constituencies (14 SC and two ST). The shift from the past could not have been starker. Until the mid-1980s, the Congress was never short of stalwarts from backward communities. The likes of Vella Eacharan Iyyani, M P Thami, K K Balakrishnan, K Raghavan Master, Damodaran Kalassery, P K Velayudhan, K K Madhavan, T K C Vaduthala, Kittappa Narayana Swamy and Dr M A Kuttappan gave the party both legislative heft and grassroots presence. These leaders emerged not just as candidates, but as mass figures who commanded respect. But as factionalism deepened in the late 1980s and ‘90s, Dalit and tribal representation shrank. “The main reason for the failure of Congress to promote SC/ST leaders was the endless feud between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups. It choked the rise of new leaders and created a vacuum that remains unfilled even today,” said political analyst Dijo Kappen. That vacuum is now haunting the party. For decades, the leadership has relied on a handful of “safe” names — most notably Kodikunnil Suresh and Pandalam Sudhakaran. Kodikunnil, first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, remains an MP, while Sudhakaran has held sway since his Wandoor debut in 1982. Both men have effectively blocked the entry of younger leaders, according to critics. “Congress is finding no names beyond Kodikunnil and Sudhakaran. With issues clouding Remya Haridas as well, the party has only itself to blame,” remarked Ramesh Mathew, a former journalist and long-time Congress watcher. Indeed, the bench is worryingly thin. The party has no ready replacements for the 16 reserved constituencies. Meanwhile, the CPM and the BJP are making visible efforts to cultivate Dalit and tribal candidates, intensifying the Congress’ anxiety. A senior Congress source admitted the crisis, but insisted change was coming. “The AICC wants new names from fishermen, SC and ST communities, not the tired old set such as Kodikunnil and [T N] Prathapan. We have identified promising new faces, and there will be a visible generational shift in 2026,” the leader told TNIE. Sources said Sajithamol, the widow of M G Kannan, who was vice-president of the Pathanamthitta District Congress Committee (DCC) and district panchayat member, who passed away in May this year. at the age of 42, will be among the Congress picks from the backward community for the assembly election. The stakes are high. In the 140-member House, the 16 reserved seats can prove decisive. Losing ground on this front could cripple Congress’ chances of returning to power. Leaders like P R Sona from Kottayam — educated, with a doctorate, and active in community work — represent the kind of profile the party should have nurtured years ago. Instead, the neglect of grassroots Dalit leadership has left Congress scouring the state at the last minute for candidates with credibility, said sources. The irony is stark. A party that once produced giants like K K Balakrishnan — who held multiple ministerial portfolios, including harijan welfare and transport — and Kuttappan, a staunch Ambedkarite who fought his way into the assembly despite factional sabotage, is today struggling to find even a handful of recognisable Dalit leaders. As the countdown to the polls begins, Congress is discovering that decades of ignoring and sidelining its Dalit and tribal leaders cannot be wished away in a frantic candidate search. The past is catching up fast — and the party may pay a heavy price. Rajesh Abraham Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Dalit teen allegedly attacked, stripped for meeting girl in Chennai
Police said Saravanan also made casteist slurs during the attack. The boy is currently undergoing treatment at Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) The Secretariat Colony police in Chennai on Friday, September 12, arrested two men under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly assaulting, stripping, and verbally abusing a 17-year-old Dalit teen who had gone to meet a girl at her relatives’ residence. The arrested men have been identified as Saravanan, reportedly a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary, and his brother Logesh. Police said the incident took place after the girl’s relatives confined the boy in a room and then called Saravanan for intervention. The boy, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) Hindu Adi Dravidar community, and the girl, who is from the Most Backward Class (MBC) Vanniyar community, had been friends for years. Though they later joined different schools, they continued to stay in touch through social media. When the boy went to visit her, Saravanan and Logesh allegedly stripped and assaulted him. Police said Saravanan also made casteist slurs during the attack. The boy is currently undergoing treatment at Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital. The police have registered a case against the accused, under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Sections 296(b) (obscene act or singing), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 109(1) (attempt to murder) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Written by:TNM Staff Courtesy : TNM Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewsminute.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Varansi News: Will Rahul Gandhi explode hydrogen bomb in Varanasi, on the same day Modi will donate his mother’s pind in Gaya ji
Rahul Gandhi News: Modi is going to donate his mother’s pind in Gaya ji, Bihar. On the same day Rahul Gandhi is coming to explode hydrogen bomb in Prime Minister Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi. There is a lot of discussion about this. Abhishek Kumar Jha, Varanasi: Rahul Gandhi’s statement on hydrogen bomb is being discussed a lot. In a media byte, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had targeted the entire election process and talked about hydrogen bomb. With the data of a Lok Sabha constituency of Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi had said that if there was no theft in the elections, the government would not have been formed. Meanwhile, amid the sound of Bihar elections, PM Narendra Modi will donate his mother’s pind in Gaya ji According to the information received by NBT Online on the same day, Rahul Gandhi will explode hydrogen bomb in PM’s parliamentary constituency. 17 September is when PM Modi will donate his mother’s pind. At the same time, Rahul Gandhi will be raising questions about Modi’s election process in his parliamentary constituency. Screening of 1600 houses, more than 500 names on one house NBT Online has received information that Rahul Gandhi will hold a press conference with a list of more than 1600 houses. In this press conference, Rahul Gandhi will be accompanied by Ajay Rai, the state president of Congress and the candidate of the Grand Alliance in the Lok Sabha. In the press conference, Rahul Gandhi will release a list of about 1600 houses, where the number of voters will be unusually high. This will also include such houses or residential addresses, where there will be more than 500 voters. Not only this, the addresses of PM Modi’s old parliamentary office are also included. NBT Online has received information that Rahul Gandhi will reach Varanasi late in the evening of the 16th for this press conference. PM will be offering Pind Daan to Maa Heera Ben in Gaya Ji However, there is no official information yet as to what time PM Modi will reach Gaya Ji and offer Pind Daan to Maa Heera Ben, but on the same day, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi can start a campaign to damage PM Modi’s Bihar election campaign. According to the information, PM Modi is going to Gaya ji for the Pind Daan of his mother Hira Ben. After this news, AI generated videos have also been circulated as a taunt from the social media handles of opposition parties, especially Congress. Politics has started on the Pind Daan program of a son for his mother. Edited by: Vivek Mishra About the author Vivek Mishra is a senior digital content producer at Navbharat Times. His focus remains on the news of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Apart from this, he keeps writing opinion and political analysis. Birthplace is Barabanki and work place has been many cities of three states. Started career in print media in 2013. Has worked on sports for one and a half years in Madhya Pradesh Jansandesh. Has worked in hyper local in Patrika, Hindustan, Amar Ujala. Apart from this, he has worked for one and a half years in Dainik Jagran Noida in Delhi, and one year in Noida-Ghaziabad. Has been working with Navbharat Times since December 2020. Courtesy : Hindi News
‘Rising From the Dust’: Luminous short stories about Dalit lives on both sides of the Bengal border
The anthology contains 12 stories curated and translated by Aruna Chakravarti. Aruna Chakravarti’s exceptional skills as both a translator and a writer of meticulously researched historical fiction are widely acknowledged and evidenced by her much-acclaimed oeuvre so far. This time, however, she has mobilised her art of translation to cast some light on the plight of the Dalits of Bengal, more specifically, of Dalit women, who confront a three-pronged dilemma: the stigma of their caste, gender-based injustice, and ubiquitous poverty. The result is Rising From the Dust: Dalit Stories from Bengal. Many Bengals For this anthology Chakravarti has translated 12 stories spread across a century, including works by both contemporary Dalit writers and those written about the community by non-Dalit writers who wrote sensitively about the condition of Dalit women. Apart from the sheer enjoyment of reading these stories, which I shall deal with later, I must mention here that for me, this book, at many levels, is an eye-opener and offers multiple layers of pleasure, like a matryoshka doll, encasing within itself a variety of linked worlds of personal and literary associations and significance. I come to it not just as a reader but as an expatriate Bangladeshi-Italian, and an anglophone writer and translator myself. There is also my background of being born in undivided Pakistan, and growing up in both East and West Pakistan, which enables me to relate to the stories where Bangladesh or East Bengal is mentioned. Also, to read in this anthology the works of some of the contemporary writers of Bengali Dalit literature, like Manoranjan Byapari, Manohar Mouli Biswas or Nakul Malik, all new to me and all born in East Pakistan, gives me a special insight into, at least, the geographic if not the economic or social circumstances of their remembered world. This is true also of the great Mahasweta Devi, many of whose stories about Adivasis I helped translate into Italian, and had the pleasure of meeting her during a film festival in Rome, in 2010, where the cinematic version of one of her stories was being screened as Gangor by the Italian director Italo Spinelli. Each story in this collection has a powerful impact, representing as it does a specific professional group of Dalits. The diversity here is tremendous: there are fisherfolk and boatmen, farmers and snake-charmers, doms and sweepers, tanners and drum-makers, basket-weavers, and rickshaw pullers. Even dung-cake-makers. Here, Mothos and Duleys, Bedeys and Vaishnavs, and poor Muslim farmers all exist side by side. Women at the centre There are strong female protagonists: Sarama in Manoranjan Byapari’s “The Fortress,” who makes her body her last battlefield. (“She is a pot brimming over with poison.”). In Chintay in Bimalendu Haldar’s “Salt,” we see the spirit of resistance among fisherwomen united against exploitation. (“Men…scorn us as weak and helpless. Let’s show them that we…can do everything they can. We are four women together.”) In Mahasweta Devi’s “Nalini’s Story,” we witness heartwarming female solidarity as Nalini’s friend, Mukundo’s mother, constantly stands up for Nalini against her greedy family. “You’re here to grab the old woman’s house and sell it … But it won’t be that easy. We’re with her.”) In Manohar Mouli Biswas’s “Shonkhomala,” the eponymous character, a rare, educated woman of the dom community, inspires her husband to help them escape their constraining circumstances. “Let us cast off the surname that brings us only shame and dishonour.” In Shankini, the beautiful and fiery leader of the band of bedeys, snake charmers in Prafulla Kumar Roy’s “Snake Maiden,” presents a version of the career-driven woman’s dilemma confronting domestic bliss versus ambition. (It wasn’t as though she herself was not lured by the prospect of putting down roots. “But I love my life as a bedeyni even more. The danger and excitement of sailing over tumultuous waters…We have been nomads for generations.”) Shefali, the wife in Nakul Mallik’s “Illegal Immigrant”, runs all the way from the slums of Bongaon to the Petrapole border office looking for her immigrant husband, and, when stopped from crossing the border, she rages at the officer. (“What passport? … I’m going to my husband. How dare you try to stop me?”) Larani in Anil Ghorai’s “Insect Festival” questions societal and religious rules. (“All these decrees are given out by evil men…in the name of the gods.”) And the pathetic old recluse Shora is seen as a fiendish creature in Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay’s psychologically complex story “The Witch,” about the battle of self-worth against public perception. (“There was no doubt in her mind now. What people said was right. She possessed a demoniac power…a power that destroyed everyone she loved.”) And even when the protagonists are frail or passive, their stories by dint of their narrative power, have the strength to move readers to tears, as in Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s “Abhagi’s Heaven” where a dignified cremation with full funeral rites is craved by the lowborn protagonist as her most dazzling goal; or Mahasweta Devi’s “The True-Life story of Ulli-Bulli’s Mother” where a skilful use of dual points of view effectively reveals the mind of an unhinged old woman living in her past, searching for her lost twin daughters; orTarasankar Bandyopadhyay’s “Raikamal”, where a young Vaishnavi Kamal quietly struggles to embody the purity of spiritual love while suppressing her physical instincts. As to the faith of the other characters, whether the gods actually hear their fervent prayers or not, we see the wives of fishermen near the Sunderbans go to shrines of Bonbibi, the lady guardian spirit of the forest venerated by both Hindus and Muslims;,while the snake charmers bow to both Allah and Bishohari, another name for Manasha, the snake goddess. Some characters give offerings at Ma Sheetala’s temple, others at Kalighat. Translation and details Within a single volume one journeys through diverse settings and locations: refugee camps and slums, forests, fields of wild reeds, bulrushes, tussock grass, teeming bazars, urban alleys, streets and train stations, salt fens and muddy banks of rivers, bamboo groves, fish warehouses, paddy fields, dusty stretches
54 Rajputs tied and brutally attacked:Women gangraped, victims buried alive; Congress never regained Bihar Chief Ministership after the massacre
In the second episode of Dainik Bhaskar’s election series ‘Massacre’, today is the story of the Dalelchak Baghaura massacre, after which the Congress, which ruled Bihar for 40 years, could never make its CM again… One night of May 29, 1987. Location – Aurangabad district of Bihar. The same Aurangabad where the country’s only west-facing Sun Temple is located. A crowd of about 500 people was advancing, chanting the slogan ‘MCC Zindabad’. They had guns, axes, sickles, and cans of kerosene oil in their hands. After a while, everyone stopped at one place. They talked for a bit. Then half of them started moving towards Baghaura village and the other half towards Dalelchak. Both villages are one kilometer apart. Here, the Rajputs had dominance. Gaya Singh of Baghaura was the head clerk in the forest department. He had the only concrete house in the village. He had built it with passion. The eyes would stop at the gateway from afar. Around 8 PM, suddenly some noise was heard. When he opened the door and looked, a crowd of 200-300 people was standing in front. Gaya Singh hastily closed the door. They hadn’t even taken two steps when the crowd pushed and broke the door. First, the men of the house were dragged out and lined up. Meanwhile, two boys tried to escape unnoticed, but the attackers fired shots. Both fell right there. The attacker went near them. Their breaths hadn’t completely stopped yet. He struck a machete on the neck. Then, wiping his sweat, he said- ‘What are you looking at… go and bring their women.’ 20-25 attackers entered and started throwing women and children outside. Everyone was screaming- ‘Don’t kill us. Let us go. We beg you.’ One attacker spoke up- ‘#&#$% these people show a lot of arrogance. They make our women work. Dishonor their women in front of them. Only then will the revenge be complete.’ The attackers pounced on the women and girls. They tore their clothes. They began to rape them. After a while, a middle-aged man spoke up- ‘Enough. Now kill them all.’ The attackers dragged the women into the veranda. They placed their necks on the cot and pressed hard. One attacker picked up an axe and one by one beheaded the five women. Blood spread all over the veranda. The attacker said- ‘Dispose of them all.’ 8-10 people started digging a pit in front of the house with shovels. In a short time, the pit was ready. The attackers put the women’s bodies in the pit and filled it with soil. ‘Now tie these #@$%*& and take them to the banyan tree. The villagers should also see what happens when they clash with us.’ Hearing this, the attackers tied the hands and feet of Gaya Singh and his family members. They dragged them to the banyan tree. There was a large banyan tree at the beginning of the village. 30 May 1987, Dalelchak Baghaura village. Rajputs were killed by tying them to this banyan tree. Source: Library 30 May 1987, Dalelchak Baghaura village. Rajputs were killed by tying them to this banyan tree. Source: Library By now, there was chaos in the village. The attackers were dragging women, men, and children from Rajput families one by one to the banyan tree. Many people were jumping from the roofs and running towards the fields. The attackers were continuously firing. Some people were killed on the spot. A 40-year-old man was returning home with a tractor. Seeing the attackers, he screamed, ‘Oh uncle, we are not Rajputs. We work at their house. We are Harijans, Harijans.’ #$%@#$ Lying… saying this, a middle-aged man struck him on the back with an axe. Two attackers tied him to the seat of the tractor. Then they poured a can of kerosene oil on the tractor and set it on fire. Within minutes, the driver died in agony. Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Dalelchak, Kamla Kunwar had just returned from her in-laws’ house a few hours earlier. Her father was preparing for a feast. Guests had already arrived. Suddenly, the dogs started barking. Kamla said to her sister Lalita- ‘Go and see who is outside?’ Lalita peeked and saw hundreds of armed men advancing towards the village. She screamed- ‘Papa, Mummy, everyone run, the Naxalites have come.’ Both sisters, their parents, and other relatives started running towards the fields. Just then, the people next door stopped them. They said- ‘You people are not in any danger. Just hide in the house.’ Within minutes, the crowd stormed into the village. They entered the Rajputs’ houses and started a massacre. Kamla and Lalita hid in a pile of hay behind the house. The rest of the family and relatives were caught. A two-year-old child was sleeping on the bed. He started crying upon seeing the crowd. The attacker shouted – ‘Kill this bastard first.’ As soon as he heard this, a middle-aged man picked up the child and threw him on the threshold. His head split open. The attacker grabbed the child by the hair and lifted him. Another struck the child’s neck with an axe. The child’s head remained in the attacker’s hand, and the body fell to the ground. 30 May 1987, the children of the Dalelchak Baghaura massacre whose entire families were killed in the massacre. Source: Library 30 May 1987, the children of the Dalelchak Baghaura massacre whose entire families were killed in the massacre. Source: Library One pointed towards the women and said, ‘Violate their honor and finish them off.’ The attackers did just that. After raping, they beheaded the women and girls. Kamla’s father could not bear to see this. He charged at the attackers, cursing them, but they caught him. Two attackers held his legs and two held his arms. A 20-year-old boy struck him in the stomach with an axe. He screamed. Then the attacker shoved the butt of a gun into his mouth. Within minutes, he was writhing in