Act against caste violence, Siddaramaiah told

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Civil society organisation Bahutva Karnataka, amid the rising casterelated violence in the State, on Monday, demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ensure the State remains “Sarva Janangada Shantiya Tota” or a garden of peace for all communities as per the ideals of celebrated Kannada poet Kuvempu.

In a letter to the CM, the group demanded that the state government act against caste-related violence in the State, adding that people of the State decisively voted in favour of the Congress party in a desire to see a united, harmonious Karnataka.

Highlighting three recent cases of caste violence in the past month including the incident where a father in Chintamani killed his daughter because she was in a relationship with a man from the Dalit community, the group said the caste-related violence had been continuing unabated.

Earlier in June, Vivek Raj, an employee of the retail chain Lifestyle in Bengaluru committed suicide. In his suicide video note, he spoke about the caste-related discrimination he faced in his company and that in spite of complaining to his superiors, no action was taken.

In another incident soon after the election, Arun Kumar belonging to the Dalit community was beaten up by dominant caste members for celebrating the victory of the Congress candidate in Chikkamagaluru in public view.

A factfinding report found that the police had not invoked necessary provisions of the law, have contaminated evidence and not even recorded the statement of the survivors. There is also a false counter case filed against the survivor.

After the complaint was filed, their family is allegedly facing increased harassment at the hands of the dominant castes.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CHIEF MINISTER SIDDARAMAIAH

BK played a major role in the Assembly election as it published multiple reports on the performances of the previous BJP government in multiple sectors of the State.

“Standing true to its diverse, plural, and harmonious State, the group now demands that Congress address the party’s declared stand to make Karnataka a peace ground for its entire people,” the statement said.

To address the issue, the group requested the CM to allot a day in the Budget session and also demanded an announcement aimed at annihilating caste. Besides, they also wanted the government to initiate a study into caste discrimination in workplaces and explore means to end it. While the victims of the caste violence go unnoticed in several cases, the group demanded suitable compensation to the families and impartial investigation.

“Set up a helpline for inter-caste couples facing threats, awareness programme on how caste discriminations impact people, how caste manifests in various ways should be conducted in public and private institutions, ensure your ministers from dominant caste publicly denounce ‘untouchability’ and caste-based atrocities and to declare their intent to work for the annihilation of caste,” the BK statement said.