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Courage under
fire
One man battles for justice in the face of continuing atrocities
against Dalits in Punjab
BY FAISAL DEVJI
A savage and barbaric assault
by powerful Congress-backed Jat landlords has left Bant Singh, Dalit
leader of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha (AIALA) in Mansa, Punjab, with both
arms and one leg amputated. His remaining leg is also in danger. On
January 5, 2006 Sarpanch Jaswant Singh and former Sarpanch Niranjan Singh
of Jhabbar village mounted an attack on Bant Singh. Critically injured,
Bant Singh lay for 36 hours in the Mansa Civil Hospital while the hospital
authorities, influenced by Congress leaders, refused him any treatment.
Eventually, he was taken to the PGI in Chandigarh, where his limbs had to
be amputated since gangrene had set in and his kidneys collapsed due to
blood loss.
We were told that massacres of Dalits only happened in the
hinterland of backward Bihar – not in ‘developed’ capitalist Punjab,
harvesting the green gold of the green revolution. But Bant Singh’s story
reveals the sordid reality behind the media image of the prosperous Punjab
farmer on his tractor in a mustard field. Green revolution technology and
‘development’ has clearly failed to erode feudal social relations. On the
contrary, feudal brutality has intensified in the wake of the crisis faced
by the farmers themselves. Agrarian development in Punjab has not resulted
in democratisation. Rather, it has concentrated land and resources in the
hands of a small set of families close to the ruling class parties – the
Congress and Akali Dal. Agrarian labour, at the bottom of the ladder, face
destitution and desperate unemployment along with social boycotts and
brutal attacks on the basis of caste. Social dignity for Dalits remains a
burning issue in Punjab just as much as it is in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh.
Bant Singh is known in his village and among his comrades
as a singer of rousing protest songs. A sympathiser of the CPI (ML)
movement for many years, he became active in 2000, in the course of a
struggle against the rape of his then minor daughter by goons who are
close to Jaswant Singh and Niranjan Singh. The rapists were awarded a life
sentence in 2002 after a legal and political battle waged by the agrarian
labour organisation and the CPI (ML). The attack on Bant Singh was
probably an act of retribution for daring to achieve this bit of justice
and for continuing to be a leading organiser of agrarian labourers. Before
January 5, Bant Singh was engaged in mobilising labourers as part of
preparations for the National Conference of the All India Agrarian Labour
Association (AIALA), at which he was one of the delegates from Punjab.
Hindu mythology tells the story of Ekalavya – the tribal
youth who cut off his thumb on the demand of Dronacharya so that Ekalavya
would not be a better archer than the Kshatriya boys. Being a tribal,
Ekalavya must have been a natural archer but he was mutilated and robbed
of his traditional skill and his right to self-defence and survival. Today
one gets the feeling that the story of Ekalavya is being played out again
and again. In order to rob tribals of their only means of survival in
Orissa – their rights over land, forests, rivers – they are not only shot
dead for resisting, their hands, genitals and women’s breasts are chopped
off in police custody. In Punjab, upper caste landlords chopped off Bant
Singh’s limbs. The graphic, horrific act of mutilation continues to be a
weapon to ‘teach’ Dalits and tribals ‘their place’ – to warn them not to
aspire for social dignity and rights.
When his comrades met Bant Singh in hospital, they broke
down. But Bant Singh told them, "They’ve only got my limbs, I’ve still got
my voice – I can still sing!" As we salute Bant Singh’s courage and his
spirit, as we feel outrage and anger at the brutality unleashed on him and
his family of eight children in which he is the only earning member, it
seems that today’s Ekalavyas are not willing to give up their rights as ‘dakshina’.
And mutilation and barbarism can’t silence their songs or crush their
spirit of resistance.
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Down but not out
Two months later, Bant Singh addresses rally
BY AMRITA DHALIWAL
"They cannot cut through my spirit till I am alive,"
stated Bant Singh at a massive rally organised by the Bant Singh Jabar
Kand Virodhi Action Committee today at the Plaza, Sector 17. The rally was
attended by thousands of workers from all over Punjab in support of Bant
Singh and his crusade. "My limbs have been cut, but not my tongue and till
I am alive, I will fight for the cause of the poor," he stated.
Talking to TNS, he said while earlier his fight was only
for his family and daughter, now he was fighting for his fellow brothers.
"I will now work for my fellow brothers till I live," he stated. Not
concerned about the compensation given out by the government, he said he
would not rest till the guilty were punished. "They can take back their
money, the compensation I want is justice," he said. n
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 3, 2006
http://punjabdalitsolidarity.blogspot.com/
Appeal to the prime minister
To:
Mr
Manmohan Singh
Prime
Minister of India
Room No.
152, South Block,
New Delhi
- 110 001. India.
Fax: +91
11 23016857
cc Capt
Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab
Dear
Prime Minister,
We the
undersigned condemn the savage and barbaric assault by powerful
Congress-backed Jat landlords which has left Bant Singh, Dalit
leader of the Mazdoor Mukti Morcha (All India Agrarian Labour
Association) in Mansa, Punjab, with both hands and one leg
amputated. Further, we note that this criminal attack was planned in
retaliation for Bant Singh’s sustained campaign against caste and
gender based power and violence and, in particular, his struggle to
bring his minor daughter’s rapists to justice. We stand by Bant
Singh and his family in the face of this unspeakable tragedy and we
believe passionately that such atrocities cannot be acceptable in
21st century India.
1. We
urge you to accord the highest priority to the medical treatment and
rehabilitation of Bant Singh, in particular the provision of
artificial limbs to him at an appropriate stage. This has to be
undertaken irrespective of the costs or effort involved. Further,
the rehabilitation will have to consider also the living conditions,
livelihood and insurance against future ailments arising from Bant
Singh’s current disabilities.
2. We
urge you to immediately organise the payment of due compensation for
Bant Singh and his family in order to alleviate the great suffering
caused by the assault, again keeping in mind all future needs.
3. While
police authorities have, under great public pressure, arrested seven
youths who have allegedly been involved in the assault on Bant
Singh, no efforts must be spared to bring those who masterminded the
attack to justice. We demand an independent inquiry into the
incident to ascertain whether the Punjab government is shielding
prominent people involved in planning the attack due to their
affiliation with the ruling Congress party.
4. We are
deeply concerned by the attempts by senior police officials to
dismiss any link between the attacks on Bant Singh and his
courageous struggle against those who raped his minor daughter in
2002. The successful sentencing of the rapists to life imprisonment
by a sessions court in 2004 is a very strong motive for the repeated
assaults by upper caste men on Bant Singh over the past year and
must not be swept aside as irrelevant to the case.
5. The
Bant Singh incident is the tip of the iceberg as far as atrocities
on Dalits in Punjab are concerned. Apart from the severe economic
exploitation of Dalits, who form a very large percentage of all
agricultural labour in the state, there is systematic sexual
exploitation of Dalit women. This is a matter for immediate inquiry
for the SC/ST Commission, the National Human Rights Commission as
well as the National Women’s Commission.
http://new.petitiononline.com/Bant06/petition.html
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How you can help
While Bant Singh continues to defy the fetters
imposed by disability following the barbaric assault, he is
currently facing several difficulties. He is unable to move on his
own, a surgery is pending in the leg that was left intact but
dysfunctional. He has eight very young children to look after; his
piggery – the work that had freed him from the feudal bonds of being
tied to the landlords’ fields – has collapsed and there are multiple
medical complications.
We can express our solidarity by helping him
access the best possible medical rehabilitation so that he is back
on his feet. Doctors have pointed out that with the current
developments in medical technology it would not be impossible to fix
artificial limbs, both arms and legs, for him. Given the nature of
amputation and the extent of prosthetic aids required, it is an
expensive procedure but this is also necessary to prevent his organs
from getting atrophied.
St. Stephen’s Hospital, Delhi, is attempting to
medically rehabilitate Bant Singh. While this procedure has started,
there is an urgent need for funds so that the best possible
prosthetic aids can be acquired for him. We urgently seek
your financial support for this purpose.
Bant Singh’s rehabilitation would give all
struggling people immense courage and hope. We owe it to Bant Singh
to enable him to walk again.
You can draw your cheque/DD in favour of AIALA,
and send it to U-90, Shakarpur, Delhi 110 092.
For further details and queries on the nature of
contribution, you could contact:
Forum for Democratic Initiatives
[email protected], [email protected]
9868038981/ 9811625577 / 9910074470 / 9818416968
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