Arjun Singh’s two nephews have been forced to tum themselves in, and they are being held. But Arjun Singh remains a free man, and the chamras who work for him say they live in terror.
The incident was debated in Parliament recently, with Congress I stalwarts speaking out firmly. One S.S. Ahluwalia declared: “we have been shouting ourselves hoarse to bring this issue of atrocities on “harijans,” but this government is a deaf government. It has been promising so much but done nothing.”
That was on April 6, more than a month ago. In the days that followed, Dhanraj’s family grew increasingly militant; they carried his body 50 miles to where an autopsy could be performed. It showed that there was no alcohol in his blood. They carried out a sit in together with 100 other “harijans,” at the office of the district collector, who in late April finally got Arjun Singh to pay those 10,000 rupees in compensation $450.
A one paragraph item on the settlement appeared in a local newspaper, and it caught the eye of Krishna Rawit, A former state legislator she a “harijan” and a fierce campaigner for the rights of untouchables and women. She saw immediately the political dimension of the incident.
Rawi found Kuchchi in her family village, Bela, and told a reporter, “at first, Kuchchi refused to tell me anything. But I convinced her that if we can get justice for her, others like her will not have to suffer.”
Article extracted from this publication >> June 15, 1990
