As tension continues to simmer in Shabbirpur village in Saharanpur following caste violence, Scheduled Castes are living in fear of retribution by Thakurs and accuse the police of being biased towards them. The tension is palpable, the calm uneasy. Despite heavy security across Saharanpur, the mood among the Scheduled Castes and the Thakurs does not augur well. On the other end of the spectrum, instead of riots and disputes another Scheduled Caste community member, In 2011, Justice Karnan wrote to the NCSC alleging that he was being discriminated against by other judges of the Madras High Court because he was a Dalit. He even called for an open press conference inside his chambers where he alleged said discrimination by four or five judges since his appointment in 2009. This was just the beginning. All allegations made Justice Karnan against the judges since 2011 have included caste-based discrimination, postings and corruption. The Complaint is a useful illustration when talking about the unconscious caste biases in workshops with judges.
In relation to all these incidents, Representatives of The Chamar Mahan Sabha and other like-minded organizations led by Sabha President, Paramjit Singh Kainth today submitted a Memorandum through the Deputy Commissioner of Patiala, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee. The memorandum demanded that these incidents should be looked into and the way the government has been ignoring and sidelining the concerns of the Scheduled Castes is palpable and disheartening.
Addressing the media, Sabha President Paramjit Singh Kainth said “The BJP led NDA Government has been ignoring the interests of the Scheduled Castes since its coming to power in 2014. There have been innumerable incidents in the recent past concerning the atrocities and discrimination against the Scheduled Castes all over India. These incidents are increasing at an alarming rate and the Government has been unable to provide a solution or a way to avoid such disgraceful situations.”Another irresponsible act of the government was highlighted in the memorandum was the inability of the Government to fill the seats of Chairperson and other office bearers of the National Scheduled Castes Commission. The posts have been vacant since last year and even after repeated protests and efforts, the government is least concerned with appointing the Chairman and members of the Commission.Kainth further added “This seems to be a conspiracy of the Government that all these incidents are happening increasingly while the Commission is not in function. The vacant seats represent the fake promises and deterioration of hope by the Government for the Scheduled Castes. The Government is not taking these matters seriously and if the Commission was appointed with its office bearers, these atrocities would have been dealt with and maybe avoided to reach such escalation. The National Scheduled Castes Commission was setup to provide social, legal justice against the atrocities and discrimination against the Scheduled Castes, something which due to the negligence and ignorance of the Modi Government it is unable to do.”
Kainth told that “The Chamar Mahan Sabha and its brotherly organizations will join in the protest organized by the Bhim Sena at Jantar Mantar on 21st May. The Scheduled Castes Community voices have been left unheard and ignored in the past and protests like these will enable us to make our voice heard loudly and proudly.”The Chamar Mahan Sabha’s President Paramjit Singh Kainth led group was also joined by other regional organizations and their heads like Dilip Singh Buchre of the Navnirman Kranti Dal, Gurdeep Singh Lambardar of Savidhan Bachao Morcha, Surjan Singh Sakraudi of Democratic Forum for Social Justice and Sukhwinder Singh, Youth Wing President of the Chamar Mahan Sabha, Baldev Singh, Sonu Sidhu, Amarjeet Singh, Amandeep Singh and Advocate Rajinder Pal Tony among others.Paramjit Singh Kainth told that after this submission, the Sabha and other organizations will continue their efforts with full dedication and strength and will submit Memorandums in other districts of the region. A meeting of the group will be organized and further action will be planned after careful discussion and the struggle to provide legal and social justice to the Scheduled Castes community will continue and if the demands are not met, State wide Protests will be organized.