Dalits from across the state called for support for the family of the Una flogging victims, who have filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court against the verdict of March 16, when a court in Veraval sentenced only five of the 40 accused facing trial and acquitted the remaining.
At the state-level ‘Justice and Solidarity Convention’ held at the Mangal Pandey Auditorium here on the tenth anniversary of the alleged flogging incident on Saturday, Balu Sarvaiya, father of two of the four men who were allegedly flogged by self-styled “cow vigilantes” in public, proclaimed that they would “fight” till they live.
“After ten years of struggle, our case was hushed up at the Veraval sessions court… We are angry, and we want to fight. We have moved the high court; we will take it up to the Supreme Court if we have to. We will fight for as long as we live. If even the Supreme Court doesn’t give us justice, we will then agitate against the government,” Sarvaiya said.
Exhorting others to support and strengthen the ‘movement’, Sarvaiya said, “Atrocities happen, but the community does not fight back. We also got several offers [to settle the case], but we did not give in.”
Congress working president and Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani urged the community to pressure the state government to file an appeal against the verdict. “We want the remaining 35 people, including the policemen who were in the procession when the victims were being flogged and dragged, to also be put behind bars,” said Mevani.
“It is also the responsibility of the state home and the social justice departments to ensure social justice… We must build pressure on the government,” he noted.
Drawing comparisons with the cases against Patidars charged in the quota agitation violence cases of 2015, Mevani said the government should also withdraw those registered against Dalits, who protested after the self-immolation of Bhanubhai Vankar. Vankar had allegedly set himself ablaze outside the Patan collector’s office in 2018.
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“Then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel had made three promises to the Una victims: land to till, government jobs, and plots for houses. When will you fulfil these promises?”
Sarvaiya’s sons Ramesh and Vashram, their cousin Ashok and relative Bechar were allegedly stripped to the waist, tied to a car and flogged by the “vigilantes” on July 11, 2016, in Mota Samadhiyala village of then Una taluka in Gir Somnath district. They were accused of killing a cow.
Sarvaiya was also allegedly beaten when he went to save them. The incident sparked outrage across the country. Investigations later showed that a lion had killed the cow the four men were skinning. The cow was owned by one Najabhai Ahir of Bediya village, and he had asked Sarvaiya to pick up the carcass, the CID (Crime) probe showed.
The people convicted and awarded five years of imprisonment are Ramesh Jadav, Rakesh Joshi, Nagjibhai Vaniya, Pramodgiri Gausvami and Balvantgiri Gausvami, all of whom are out as their sentence was counted as concurrent with their jail custody. They were fined Rs 5,000 each.
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The court raised questions about the conduct of the complainant, Vashram, Sarvaiya’s son, and ordered that the victims be given a copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography as compensation under the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Samiti.
A total of 41 persons were facing criminal trial in the case, including four policemen from the Una police station. Inspector Nirmalsinh Zala, S-I Narendradev Pandey, assistant S-I Kanchan Parmar and head constable Kanjibhai Chudasama were named in the case. The case against Zala was abated after his death.
The remaining three, who faced charges of abetting the accused, neglect of duty, framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury and forgery of public records, were acquitted by the court.
