April 2018 caste protests in India | |
---|---|
Date | 2 April 2018 |
Location | |
Caused by | The Supreme Court order on the Atrocities Act |
Goals | To prevent the dilution of the Atrocities Act |
Methods | Protesting, mobbing, Bandh |
Resulted in | Parliament of India passes SC/ST Amendment act 2018, to overrule Supreme Court judgement |
Casualties | |
Death(s) | 14 [1] |
Arrested | 100 (Haryana) [2] about 10000 (Uttar Pradesh)/> |
In early April 2018, thousands of people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) protested across India against an order of the Supreme Court on the dilution of Atrocities Act. In subsequent violence, 14 dalit people died and hundreds were injured. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Later, the Parliament of India passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, which reversed the Supreme Court judgement [6] . The amendment act was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2020 [7] .
The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 protects the SC/ST caste groups. The act does not allow the court to grant anticipatory bail to accused person. The police must file a First Information Report (FIR) and arrest the accused on receiving a complaint. [8] In 2016, the conviction rate under the act was 25.7% in cases of atrocities against SC and 20.8% in cases against ST in 2016, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. [9] On 20 March 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that no arrests can be made without prior permission and allowed a court to grant an anticipatory bail if it, prima facie, finds the complaint an abuse of the law. [8] The Attorney General of India, on behalf of the Government of India, filed a review petition against the order of the Supreme Court. [10]
The people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) protested against the Supreme Court order. [11] Thousands of people took to the streets on 2 April 2018, when a national strike was announced by representatives of the SC/ST caste groups in protest of the decision. The protests turned violent across several states in India as the protestors blocked trains, damaged property, and clashed with police and other civilians. There were also incidents involving arson, vandalism and gunfire. At least fourteen people were killed: nine in Madhya Pradesh, [12] Three in Uttar Pradesh, two in Rajasthan; hundreds of others were injured. [13] [1] [14] Violent incidents were also reported in the states Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi. [15] [16]
Suspected non-Dalit groups, who were angered by the rampage, targeted Dalit slums in retaliation and burnt the house of Bharosi Lal Jatav, a former MLA Indian National Congress (INC) legislator, and ransacked the home of Rajkumari Jatav, a MLA Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Hindaun, Rajasthan. A curfew was imposed in Hindaun following the violence, and later extended. [17]
Twenty four government vehicles and sixty private vehicles were damaged in Haryana. [2] 84 police officials and eight civilians were injured during the violence on 2 April in Haryana. [2] Nine policemen were injured in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. [18]
Thousands of protesters were arrested and curfew was imposed in several places. 1700 anti-riot police were sent to states by the Government of India. [15] Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) (which prohibits assembly of more than four people) was imposed in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. [19] Police had filed reports against 5,000 unidentified and 285 named miscreants, while 32 agitators were arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code in Ghaziabad. [18] At least fifteen FIRs were registered by the police in Ludhiana, Punjab against hundreds of unidentified protesters for alleged road blockades and for causing obstructions. [20] The Haryana Police booked around 4,000 persons and 100 others were arrested for indulging in violence while as many as 47 FIRs were lodged. [2] The internet services were suspended in Punjab and Rajasthan. [21]
The Supreme Court held hearing on the review petition on 3 April 2018 but did not stay the order and have called to hear the matter in ten days [1]
Later, the Parliament of India passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, which reversed the Supreme Court judgement [22] . The amendment act was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2020 [23] .
Bandh is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India and Nepal. It is similar to a general strike. During a bandh, a political party or a community declare a general strike. For example, a Bharat bandh is a call for a bandh across India, and a bandh can also be called for an individual state or municipality.
Dalit is a term first coined by Jyotirao Phule for untouchables and outcasts. It is the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and the peasant class of the medieval European feudal system.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.
Hindaun is a city and municipality, near city of Karauli in Karauli district, Rajasthan, India. It has a population of 105690 and is governed by a municipal council.
Reservation is a system of caste-based affirmative action in India. Based on provisions in the Indian Constitution, it allows the Union Government and the States and Territories of India to set a percentage of reserved quotas or seats, in higher education admissions, employment, political bodies, etc., for "socially and economically backward citizens."
The 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests were a series of protests that took place in India in 2006 in opposition to the decision of the Union Government of India, led by the Indian National Congress-headed multiparty coalition United Progressive Alliance, to implement reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central and private institutes of higher education. These protests were one of the two major protests against the Indian reservation system, the other one being the 1990 anti-Mandal protests.
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Act, 1989 was enacted by the Parliament of India to prevent atrocities and hate crimes against the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. In popular usage, including in parliamentary debates and in the judgements of the Supreme Court of India, it is referred to as the SC/ST Act. It is also referred to as the 'Atrocities Act', POA, and PoA.
The Khairlanji massacre was the murder of four Scheduled Caste citizens by villagers of Khairlanji on 29 September 2006. The killings took place in the small Indian village of Khairlanji (Kherlanji), located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra.
Caste-related violence in India has occurred and continues to occur in various forms.
Mirchpur is an Indus Valley civilization site and village in Narnaund, Hissar district, Haryana, India.
The Jat reservation agitation was a series of violent protests in February 2016 by the Jat people of North India, especially those in the state of Haryana, which "paralysed" the state for 10 days. The protestors sought inclusion of their caste in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, which would make them eligible for affirmative action benefits. Besides Haryana, the protests also spread to the neighbouring states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and the National Capital Region.
All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) is a platform for women from the Dalit community to raise their voices for justice. This platform has raised several struggles and movements for self-respect and dignity. AIDMAM is a movement which was initiated by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). The aim of the movement is to recognize how the class, caste, and gender identity of a dalit woman overlap and place them at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. They work to empower dalit women to challenge these caste, class, and gender hierarchies and move forward in their struggle for justice. They do so through networking, enhancing skills and leadership at the state and district level.
Cow vigilante violence is a pattern of mob-based collective vigilante violence seen in India. The attacks are perpetuated by Hindu nationalists against non-Hindus to protect cows, which are considered sacred in Hinduism.
The 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence refers to violence during an annual celebratory gathering on 1 January 2018 at Bhima Koregaon to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. The violence and stone pelting by a crowd at the gathering resulted in the death of a 28-year old youth and injuries to five others. The annual celebration, also called Elgar Parishad convention, was organised by retired justices B. G. Kolse Patil and P. B. Sawant. Justice Sawant stated that the term "Elgar" meant loud invitation or loud declaration.
Bhim Sena or Bheem Sena or Akhil Bhartiya Bhim Sena, abbreviated as ABBS, lit."All India Ambedkar Army", is an Ambedkarite social organization working for rights of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and religious minorities in India currently under national president, Nawab Satpal Tanwar. It works for protecting the Indian Constitution and reservation. The organisation is named after B. R. Ambedkar. Seema Chauhan is PRO of Bhim Sena.
Satpal Tanwar is an Indian social activist, and the founder and National President of Bhim Sena.
The 1997 Melavalavu massacre refers to the murder of a Panchayat President of the village and six other men of the Dalit community by dominant caste members in Melavalavu, Madurai on 30 June 1997. The men were hacked to death after some dominant caste members refused to accept a Panchayat president from the Dalit Community.
M. Geethanandan is an Indian social activist working on political and economic issues faced by tribals and dalits in the state of Kerala, India. He co-founded the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha along with C.K. Janu and others. He has been involved in organising several protests and struggles of Adivasis (tribes) and Dalits, notably the Muthanga agitation, an incident of police firing on the Adivasis in the Muthanga village of Wayanad district, Kerala.
On 14 September 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, by four upper caste men. She died two weeks later in a Delhi hospital.
The Mirchpur caste violence also known as the Mirchpur Dalit killings was an incident of violence against the Balmiki Dalits by upper caste Jat villagers in the village of Mirchpur, Haryana on April 21, 2010. A 70-year-old man and his polio affected disabled daughter of 17 years old were burnt alive when a mob of 300 to 1000 Jat villagers set fire to houses in the Balmiki colony where 18 houses were burnt down. 258 Dalit families fled the village over a span of the next eight years.