Several die in Dalit protests after court bars abusers’ arrests

At least seven people were killed yesterday as protesters led by India’s Dalits went on a rampage after the Supreme Court barred the immediate arrest of people accused of discriminating against them.

Four people were killed in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where police imposed a curfew. Three others were killed in other states. The protesters set fire to police posts and blocked railway tracks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government submitted a review petition to the Supreme Court yesterday, asking it to amend the March 20 judgment that sparked the protests, said Rajnath Singh, the Home Minister.

Dalits are at the bottom of India’s caste hierarchy and together with the scheduled tribes – indigenous peoples who are often isolated or disadvantaged – form about a quarter of the population.

Protesters carried banners demanding a nationwide shutdown, saying the judgment was diluting the law.

Demonstrators in the northern state of Haryana set police posts ablaze and attacked shops.

Violence was reported from other northern states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar, while exams were postponed and internet services shut down because of clashes in Punjab.

Dalit groups called for protests after the Supreme Court ruled last month that arrests under a law meant to speed action on complaints of violence against them required approval from officials, and barred the immediate arrest of those accused in such complaints.

Shops were shut as protesters blocked key roads in many areas, including the capital, New Delhi, and the industrial city of Ahmedabad in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat, the Times of India reported.

By the end of 2016, about 90 per cent of 145,000 cases involving Dalits were still awaiting trial, government data from last year showed.

Investigations showed that fewer than 10 per cent of the cases brought by Dalits in 2016 were proved false.

Hindus, who account for about four fifths of India’s population of 1.3 billion, were traditionally grouped into thousands of castes, whose membership was determined by birth.

Dalits face various forms of discrimination including segregation and social boycott, in addition to violence.

They have been barred from physical or social contact and in some cases, even from having their shadows touch the shadows of those belonging to people from higher castes.

The rigid system also forces some Dalits into occupations that are considered unclean, such as cleaning human excreta and disposing of dead people and animals.