CHANDIGARH: A petition has been filed before the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking directions to the state administration and the police to take appropriate administrative action to stop the social and economic boycott against members of the SC community in Chattar village of Jind. Further directions have also been sought to take strict action against those responsible for such boycott and imposition of collective fine under Section 16 of the SC & ST Act, 1989.
The matter has reached before the HC in the wake of a petition filed by Gurmeet and other residents of the village. According to the petitioner, “As a result of the ongoing boycott, the life, livelihood and education of about 200 families of the SC community of Chattar village is in imminent danger. The members of the SC community cannot enter the areas where the dominant communities reside and cannot enter the fields of the dominant communities. Moreover, all the ration shops and dairies have refused to provide goods to the members of the community. Rations have to be obtained from the city, which is 40km away,” the petition has claimed.
Gurmeet had said in his petition that on August 1, around 24 persons entered the Dalit Basti in inebriated condition and started making obscene gestures in public. When the petitioner and another person belonging to the SC community, Sachin requested them to cease such acts, they started hurling casteist slurs at them
On August 2, the victim Sachin filed a complaint in relation to the above-mentioned incident and an FIR was registered under sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST Act at police station Uchana against them.
According to the petitioners, as a counter-blast to the above FIR, an FIR dated August 2 was registered against the complainant Sachin and other members of the SC community by members of the dominant community.
Thereafter, the petitioner Gurmeet and the complainant Sachin were called upon by the village Panchayat, dominated by the Jat community, to settle the matter.
On September 26, another Panchayat was convened at 4pm where pressure was again sought to be exerted on the SC community to compromise. On their refusal to do so, one Balwan announced on behalf of the dominant community that there would be a social and economic boycott of all the members of the SC community. It was also announced that if any resident of the village disobeys this boycott, such person would be liable to pay a fine of Rs. 11,000 to the Panchayat.
The petition is expected to come up for hearing before the HC next week.
