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HARYANA, INDIA, August 31, 2005:
In one of the worst ever instances of caste violence in Haryana, upper caste villagers belonging to the Jat community in Gohana village near Sonepat burnt down 60 houses of Dalits (“Untouchables”) today. The officials, however, say about 40 houses were burnt. The attack was apparently in retaliation for the murder of a Jat on Sunday. The police has finally registered a case against a BJP MP’s son and brother after Dalits in the area alleged local politicians could be involved. As a result of today’s incident, the situation is tense in the village. Fearing an attack after four men from the community were picked up by the police soon after the murder of a Jat, close to 2,000 Dalit families who live in Gohana had left their homes on Monday. The local police confirm that this is a case of revenge. But they only arrived in the village after the houses were set on fire, 48 hours after the exodus. “Some people of the Balmiki Village had committed a murder of a man from a neighboring village,” said A K Roy, SSP, Sonipat. “We have rounded up about four people in the case had also been called. Their meeting was going on today. I was on the way with the DC. In the meantime some miscreants collected there. They were motivated, and they burnt some houses of the village,” he added. The incident highlights once again how deep rooted caste violence in the country is and how it can force 1000 families to leave their village.

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