R.D. Bhardwaj “Noorpuri”
Two young Dalit cousin sisters belonging to Village Katra Sadatganj, Distt. Badaun, UP, went to the fields on 27th May to attend to the call of nature and never returned home. When parents of the girls went to the Police Station to lodge a complaint for the missing girls, they were, as it happens in most of such low profile cases, were rebuked and told to get lost. The next day morning, the bodies of the young girls were found hanging from a mango tree in the nearby field. When the villagers protested in front of the Chief Minister’s residence, to search out the criminals who had committed this gruesome crime and killed the young girls, they were slapped and the FIR was still not written. The next day, the incident triggered strong protests in the area with the villagers alleging police apathy in front of the Chief Minister’s residence, and to make an appeal to him to instruct the police to swing into action, no doubt police swang into action, but not to search out the perpetrators of the crime, but to beat their mothers who went to complain against the high handed behaviour of the police. This is the height of the draconian and unresponsive behaviour and response of the leaders in power in Uttar Pradesh these days. The FIR was ultimately registered only after the matter was widely covered by the print and electronic media.
Preliminary inquiries have revealed that seven persons, including two policemen were involved in the heinous crime. The post mortem report has also confirmed that both girls were gang-raped before murdering and hanging them on a tree so that it could be seen as a case of suicide. It is indeed very sad state of affairs in UP these days. Gunda elements is having the field day. Both these girls are minors and belong to poor Dalit families who have been inflicted with such a horrifying treatment by the upper caste people. It is not out of place to mention here that during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party Supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is also father of the CM of UP, sarcastically remarks on a verdict given in a rape and death of a woman in Maharashtra, “Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jaati hai, unko is chchote se apradh ke liye phansi doge kya?” When a big leader of a big ruling party of the biggest state of India, who himself had been a CM of that state, gives such a bad and anti-women statement, needless to mention that his words act as an provocation to hundreds of other perverted minds in society. And that adds fuel to the fire in making the crime graph go high and thereby making the lives of common people a living hell.
No only that, body of another 22 year old woman from Distt. Bareilley in UP has also been found burnt in the fields in the nearby village. It is pertinent to mention here that since this SP government came to power in UP more than two years ago, the crime graph of the state is also going higher and higher. The biggest reason is that there is no political will to punish / chastise the criminals and giving due share of punishment to them. Rather the current set of politicians who are intoxicated with political power, act as platforms of provocation to such anti-social elements to succeed in their nefarious designs. It is also not out of place to mention here that – this is not the first time the SP Supremo has acted in an irresponsible manner , rather he had earlier also done so many occasions. During the last elections, while addressing an election rally, he warned teachers that they should be vote for only Samajwadi Party in the coming elections otherwise, they shall not be regularised. It is also a matter to ponder over that the law and order situation in the state was much better during the previous regime of Miss Mayawati, as she had put a leash on majority of anti-social elements in jails. It is a matter of shame that the Akhilesh Yadav government is using hegemony as a tool to control the people from poorer sections of society, even after 67 years of independence.
In view of the circumstances explained above, the Central Government is requested to (a) conduct an impartial enquiry into the whole crime and hang all the seven criminals to death at some public place, and (b) dismiss the UP government and put the state under Presidents’ rule with immediate effect. It is not out of place to mention here that when a state government headed by former Chief Minister, Kalyan Singh was dismissed in December, 1992 for demolition of 465 years old Babri Masjid at Ayodhya , why then the current Akhilesh Yadav government can not be dismissed for it miserably failed protect the lives of lowest strata of society in the same state and is shaming the entire nation for their heinous crimes against women, from the most vulnerable community of India.
The National Commission for the SCs and STs and National Commission for Women should also swing into action as the state police shall try their utmost to save the perpetrators of crime, specially those two police men involved and also those who initially did not write FIRs against alleged criminals (for trying to save the criminals) and those policemen who beat mothers of the girls at the Chief Minister’s residence. It should be borne in mind that in the prevailing circumstances, any enquiry if conducted by the State Govt. neither can be impartial nor it will go to dispensation of justice to the aggrieved families.
