HYDERABAD: Several Dalit Organizations staged a massive rally here on Saturday in protest against the massacre of 8 Harjans in Tsundur village of Guntur district
A few hundred Harijan victims from Tsundur also took part in the Chalo Assembly rally organized under the banner of the Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha
They went in procession from the Ambedkar statue on the tank bund to the Jagivan Ram statue near Nizam College where a public meeting was organized. The meeting demanded the arrest of the culprits responsible for the outrage an acre of land for each affected family confiscation of the properties of the accused and a special court at Tsundur for expeditious trial of the cases.
The participants pledged to launch a movement for protecting the Dalits from the atrocities of the upper cases.
The meeting was held at a short distance from the Legislative Assembly amid tight security arrangements. Narration of the ghastly crime by the widows and children of the cight Harijans of Tsundur heightened the emotions of the public. When ten-year-olds Sobhan Kumar and Sunita gave and account of how their fathers were killed people were seen shedding tears
Two women climbed atop the cabin of a pick-up van which was used as the podium of the meeting to relate the plight of their husbands at the time of their death. The victims demanded the arrest of all the accused including two police officers and suspension of the deputy speaker Alapati Dharma Rao MLA from the Vernuru constituency under which the relief sanctioned by the govt till their demands were met.
Revolutionary ballad singer Gadar gave a performance with songs condemning the Tsundur incident and the excesses of the upper castes and the police. VUAYAWADA:As the entire Tsundur village was deserted after all the Dalits proceeded to Hyderabad police took into custody 12 more persons on Saturday in connection with the massacre of Dalits on August 6.
With this the total number of arrests so far has gone up to 41 but the Dalit victims have been demanding the arrest of over 150 upper caste men.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 23, 1991
