Karnataka

Dalits not elated by appointment of officer

KOLAR: The Dalit movement in the State in general and in undivided Kolar district in particular is apparently not elated over the appointment of an officer to supervise the developments with regard to the investigation of the Kambalapalli case.

Deputy Commissioner G. Ramachandra has announced the appointment of Kolar Gold Fields Deputy Superintendent of Police M.V. Seshan as special officer to assist the public prosecutor in the appeal against the judgment of the Sessions court in the High Court of Karnataka.

Mr. Seshan has also been asked to submit a monthly report to the Deputy Commissioner on the progress made in the case.

Since the judgment was pronounced in the Kambalapalli case on December 4, 2006, the Dalit movement in the State is demanding retrial.

The 32 accused in the case were acquitted by the Second Additional District and Sessions judge of Kolar.

With a court here acquitting several accused in the Nagalapalli Dalit murder case also, a feeling of injustice has been growing among Dalits.

In the Kambalapalli (Chintamani taluk) case, seven Dalits, including six of a family, were burnt to death on March 11, 2000, while three Dalits, (a woman and her two sons) were hacked to death at Nagalapalli in Bangarpet taluk in 2004.

Though the accused were arrested in the two cases, they went “unpunished” after prolonged legal procedure, according to Dalit leaders.

Lack of evidence and the failure of the prosecution to prove the charges against them have been cited as reasons for their acquittal. In the Kambalapalli case, witnesses turned hostile too.

Perturbed over the judgments, the Dalit organisations and the Left parties, particularly the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have staged several agitations demanding retrial.

If the culprits went unpunished, it will only encourage the forces inimical to Dalits, say Dalit and Left leaders.

The latest protest seeking a retrial was the Raj Bhavan Chalo by the Dalit Sangharsh Samithi on February 11. According to DSS State convenor N. Venkatesh, the Governor’s advisor P.K.H. Tharakan has responded positively to their demands.

On the appointment of the officer to monitor developments related to the Kambalapalli case, Mr. Venkatesh claimed: “This will not help the case in any way.”

“What is important is that the Kambalapalli and Nagalapalli cases should be re-investigated thoroughly. A Deputy Superintendent of Police should be appointed for the purpose,” Mr. Venkatesh told The Hindu.

A special prosecutor and a special judge should be appointed and the cases should be retried outside Karnataka, he said. Mr. Venkatesh alleged that sluggishness on the part of the departments concerned resulted in the acquittal of the accused in the two cases.

Providing protection to witnesses, most of whom are landless farmhands, should be the responsibility of the government agencies.

If this had been done, some of them would not have turned hostile, said Ravi Harohalli, a Dalit activist.

CPI (M) leader Gandhinagar Narayanswami has expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that the Left parties were not invited to the meeting where a decision to appoint the special officer was taken.

“We will continue our struggle till our demands are met and justice is done to the Dalits,” Mr. Venkatesh said.

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