Dalit deputy sarpanch's killing sparks outrage in Gujarat

Manji Solanki was killed allegedly by upper caste people

Family of Manji Solanki has refused to accept the body until their demands are met | Twitter/ANI Family of Manji Solanki has refused to accept the body until their demands are met | Twitter/ANI

The killing of a dalit deputy sarpanch, allegedly by a group of people belonging to an upper caste, on Wednesday afternoon has sparked off an outrage in the state, even as the family of the deceased and other dalit leaders have refused to accept his body until their demands are met. The autopsy of Manji Solanki, deputy sarpanch of Jalila village of Ranpur taluka in Botad district, was carried out on Thursday morning at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. 

Seven of the nine accused in the case have been arrested. 

Solanki had been allegedly assaulted by the same gang of people on a number of occasions in the past. Dalit leaders alleged that no action was initiated to provide security to Solanki despite the fact that he had sought personal police protection. 

Botad superintendent of police Harshad Mehta admitted that his office had received application for police protection from Solanki on June 6. The police were carrying out the threat assessment before taking a decision on protection, according to him.

Solanki, who was returning to his village on a motorcycle from a nearby place, was knocked down by a car. People in the car, allegedly belonged to an upper caste, then assaulted him with iron pipes. 

The deceased's son Tushar said that his father died on the way to hospital in Ahmedabad. According to him, the upper caste people were not able to tolerate the fact that dalits were getting elected as sarpanchs. Solanki's wife Geeta is the village sarpanch.

In the last couple of years, there has been several incidents of assault on dalits from Gujarat. 

Martin Macwan of Navsarjan Trust, working for the dalits, told THE WEEK that the family of Solanki had not demanded compensation or a government job. “We are not beggars,” he said. 

They have, instead, given their six-point demands to the chief minister. One of the major demands is that all the accused in the case should be arrested. They have also demanded that all the cases of atrocities on Solanki and his murder be transferred to Ahmedabad and be taken up in the court on a day-to-day basis as the family faces threat from those who killed him.

The other demands included armed police protection for the family members of Solanki and giving them licence to keep fire arms for personal protection.

Immediate action against erring policemen, including officers, in the case and giving police protection to dalits across the state, who have asked for the same, also form part of the demands. 

Macwan said that when Cyclone Vayu was to hit Gujarat, the state government made efforts for zero casualty. “The Vayu of atrocities has been going on for 3,000 years,” he observed.

A dalit activist, Subodh Parmar, felt that the incidents of atrocities on dalits are happening because the education level among the dalits is increasing and they are reacting to discrimination. “Earlier, they used to tolerate. This is not the case now,” he added.

Even though the state government did not make any statement on the issue on Thursday, at a meeting of the monitoring committee on atrocities against SC/ST, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani directed the police to take quick action against the accused in such cases. He also asked respective collectors to ensure that harmonious atmosphere is created in 32 villages and 20 mohallas where the dalits were staying under police protection. 

Independent MLA from Vadgam, Jignesh Mevani, who was not called for the meeting, wrote a letter to the CM highlighting the plight of people from the backward community. He said police action comes after an incident has taken place but efforts should be made that there are no atrocities on dalits. 

Five dalit leaders, including that of the Congress, and former BJP MLAs visited the Civil Hospital on Thursday to express solidarity with Solanki's family.

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