Nine Dalits, Five women and four men, all of them attempted to kill themselves with kerosene on Thursday in Raiya Village area of Rajkot City over a land dispute. They alleged that the state government was in the process of allotting a parcel of land they have been cultivating since 1966 to the Swaminarayan sect. The Police, however, prevented the Dalits from setting themselves on fire and arrested them as a preventive measure.
The incident occurred at around 4 pm near Parshuram temple in Raiya village area. The Dalits arrived at the spot with kerosene cans and some of them doused themselves with the inflammable oil. However, the police, who had reached the spot anticipating trouble, rushed towards the Dalits and snatched away cans from them.
The Dalits were identified as Mahesh Parmar (33), his younger brother Girish (28), wife Rita (35); Soma Parmar (48), his wife Hemu (45), son Suresh (23) and daughter Asha (20); Hansa Parmar (36) and Mukesh Raja (49). All are residents of Raiya village within the limits of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC).
“Around 3 pm, we received messages from social media platforms that these Dalits may try self-immolation. As a precautionary measure, we deployed staff there. But after seeing from distance that police were there, the Dalits started pouring kerosene on themselves. But our staffed rushed towards them, snatched away kerosene from them and arrested them under CrPC Section 151,” University police sub-inspector Bhavna Kadchha said.
Mahesh Parmar, one of the nine detained, claimed that four Dalit families have been cultivating 16 acres of government land since 1966-67. Repeated pleas to the administration to allow them the land have failed, he said.
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“Our grandfather started cultivating the land to earn a living. But Raiya village panchayat said we were encroaching on the area. We demanded that authorities allow us the land as it is the only source of our livelihood. We also filed a case in Rajkot court in 2013, pleading that the land is allotted to us. The matter is still pending. Now, we have learnt that the government intends to allow this land to Swaminarayan sect. Therefore, we were left with no option but to commit suicide as we are holding the possession of the land for the last four decades and agriculture is the only occupation we know,” Mahesh told
.
Later in the evening, the five women were produced before a court and were released, sun-inspector Kadcha said. The police will produce the men in court on Friday. Rajkot district collector could not be reached for a comment.
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