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Caste-related violence in India has occurred and continues to occur in various forms.
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According to a report by Human Rights Watch:
inhuman, and degrading treatment of over 165 million people in India has been justified on the basis of caste. Caste is descent-based and hereditary in nature. It is a characteristic determined by one's birth into a particular caste, irrespective of the faith practiced by the individual. Caste denotes a traditional system of rigid social stratification into ranked groups defined by descent and occupation. Caste divisions in India dominate in housing, marriage, employment, and general social interaction-divisions that are reinforced through the practice and threat of social ostracism, economic boycotts, and physical violence.[1]
Quoting about the atrocities that are committed by land holding communities on Untouchables, Author Dr. C. P. Yadav states that, "Atrocities are committed on the 'Untouchables' in the villages and small towns and the incidents of such cases are showing an upward trend. Atrocities are committed by the members of land holding Upper castes like Vanniyars and Thevars in Tamil Nadu; by Reddys and Kammas in Andhra Pradesh; by Marathas and Kunbis in Maharashtra; by Bhumihars and Rajputs in Bihar, by Jats, Gujars, Ahir and Rajputs in Uttar Pradesh".[2]
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| Year | Event | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Anti-Brahmin riots | Maharashtra | After assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse who was a Chitpavan Brahmin, Marathi Brahmins were targeted by people from the Maratha caste. Later, Jains and Lingayats also attacked innocent Brahmins. Several incidents of burning of homes were reported.[3][4][5] |
| 1957 | Ramnad riots | Tamil Nadu | The Ramnad riots or the Mudukulathur riots were a series of violent clashes that occurred between July and September 1957 in the Ramnad district and in southern Tamil Nadu, India. The violence was between Thevars supporting the Forward Bloc, and pro-Congress Dalit Pallars, and was triggered by a by-election held in the aftermath of the Madras Legislative Assembly elections of earlier that year. 42 Dalits were killed during the riots.[6][7] |
| 1968 | Kilvenmani massacre | Tamil Nadu | Massacre on 25 December 1968 in which a group of 44 Dalit village labourers who were on strike for higher wages were murdered by a gang, sent by their landlords. |
| 1978 | Villupuram violence | Tamil Nadu | The 1978 Villupuram atrocity was an incident of caste based violence which happened in July 1978 in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. The violence resulted in 12 Dalits being killed and more than 100 Dalit houses burned down in Periyaparaichery, a Dalit settlement. The violence was caused when a group of Dalits allegedly attacked a dominant caste man after he allegedly molested a Dalit women. Later, dominant caste people attacked the settlement with rocket fireworks and indulged in arson and assault. The Dalits also retaliated by setting fire to several dominant caste houses. |
| 1981 | Behmai massacre | Uttar Pradesh | Phoolan Devi (1963 – 2001) was an Indian dacoit (bandit), who later became politician. Born into a traditional Mallaah (boatman class) family, she was kidnapped by a gang of dacoits. The Gujjar leader of the gang tried to rape her, but she was protected by the deputy leader Vikram, who belonged to her caste. Later, an upper-caste Thakur friend of Vikram killed him, abducted Phoolan, and locked her up in the Behmai village. Phoolan was raped in the village by Thakur men, until she managed to escape after three weeks.[8] |
| 1985 | Karamchedu massacre | Andhra Pradesh, Karamchedu | This massacre occurred on 17 July 1985, when madiga-caste dalits were killed by the Kamma caste people in 1985. Many people lost their lives in the incident.[9] |
| 1987 | Dalelchak-Bhagaura Massacre | Bihar | The killing of 52 upper caste members particularly from Rajput community was organised by a Maoist Communist Centre, a far-left militia led by Yadavs and composed mostly of members of lower (scheduled) castes. Ranvir Sena took revenge of these killings by killing people of scheduled caste members.[10] |
| 1987 | Neerukonda massacre | Andhra Pradesh | The Neerukonda Massacre happened in Andhra Pradesh on July 15, 1987, in Neerukonda village, inside the Guntur district of India's Andhra Pradesh state. An angry mob composed of members of the Kamma caste began attacking Dalit Malas after some of them held a wedding ceremony inside the town's upper-class areas.[11][12][13] The rioters killed five people which included four Malas. Among those people killed was a 60-year old Mala elder.[14] Many Malas fled to nearby Mangalagiri.[11] |
| 1991 | Tsundur massacre | Andhra Pradesh, Tsundur | The village became infamous for the killing of 8 dalits on the 6 August 1991, when a mob of over 300 people, composed of mainly Reddys and Telagas, chased down the victims along the bund of an irrigation canal. This happened after Dalits were socially boycotted by the Reddy landowners of the village. The social boycott happened because a young graduate Dalit youth was beaten as his feet had unintentionally touched a Reddy woman near a cinema hall and the Dalits of the village supported him. As a result, e. In the trial which was concluded, 21 people were sentenced to life imprisonment and 35 others to a year of rigorous imprisonment and a penalty of Rs. 2,000 each, on the 31 July 2007, by special judge established for the purpose under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. |
| 1990s | Violence by Ranvir Sena | Bihar | Ranvir Sena is a militia group based in Bihar. The group is based amongst the higher-caste landlords, and carries out actions against the outlawed naxals in rural areas. It has committed violent acts against Dalits and other members of the scheduled caste community in an effort to prevent their land from going to them. |
| 1992 | Bara massacre | Bihar | On the midnight of 12–13 February 1992, the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC), now the Communist Party of India (Maoist), brutally killed 35 members of the Bhumihar caste at Bara Village near Gaya District of Bihar. The MCC's armed group brought the 35 men of Bara village to the bank of a nearby canal, tied their hands and slit their throats.As many as 36 people were accused of the crime, but charges were framed against only 13. The police failed to arrest the others, who had defied their summons.[16] |
| 1996 | Bathani Tola massacre | Bihar | 21 Dalits were killed by the Ranvir Sena in Bathani Tola, Bhojpur in Bihar on 11 July 1996.[17] Among the dead were 11 women, six children and three infants. Ranvir Sena mob killed women and children in particular with the intention of deterring any future resistance which they foresaw. |
| 1994 | Chhotan Shukla murder case | Bihar | Chhotan Shukla was a gangster of the Bhumihar community known for his tussle with Brij Bihari Prasad, a government minister who hailed from the Bania caste.[18] During his return from an election campaign he was murdered allegedly by men operating on behalf of Prasad. In retribution, Prasad was also shot dead. Anand Mohan Singh, who was a leader of the upper-caste Rajputs, and his close companion Munna Shukla, the brother of Chhotan and himself a Bhumihar leader, were tried and given life terms in prison. The District Magistrate of Gopalganj, G. Krishnaiah, was also murdered by upper castes as he symbolised the growing power of backwards communities.[19] |
| 1997 | Melavalavu massacre | Tamil Nadu, Madurai district | In the village of Melavalavu, in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district, following the election of a Dalit to the village council presidency, members of caste Hindus (Kallar) group murdered of six Dalits in June 1996.[20] Melur panchayat, which was a general constituency, was declared a reserved constituency in 1996. This had caused resentment between Scheduled Caste people and Kallar (Ambalakarar) community. In the 1996 panchayat elections, Murugesan was elected president.[21] In June 1996, a group of persons attacked Murugesan, vice-president Mookan and others with deadly weapons, resulting in the death of six persons and injuries to many others. A total of 40 persons were cited as accused in the case. The trial court convicted Alagarsamy and 16 others and sentenced them to undergo life imprisonment. On appeal, the High Court by its judgment dated April 19, 2006, confirmed the trial court's order. Alagarsamy and others filed appeals against this judgment.[21] |
| 1997 | Laxmanpur Bathe massacre | Bihar | On 1 December 1997, Ranvir Sena gunned down 58 Dalits at Laxmanpur Bathe, Jehanabad, in retaliation for the Bara massacre in Gaya where 37 upper castes were killed. In particular, a specific Bhumihar community was targeted in retaliation for their opposition towards handing out their land for land reform. Charges were framed in the Laxmanpur-Bathe case on 23 December 2008 against 46 Ranvir Sena members for killing Dalits, including 27 women and 10 children men.[22][23] On 7 April 2010, the trial court at Patna convicted all 26 accused. 16 were sentenced to death and the other 10 were each give life imprisonment and fines of Rs. 50,000.[22][23] Around 91 of 152 witnesses in the case had deposed before the court.[22] On 9 October 2013, the Patna High Court suspended the conviction of all 26 accused, saying the prosecution had produced no evidence to guarantee any punishment at all.[23] |
| 1997 | Ramabai killings | Mumbai | On 11 July 1997, a statue of B.R. Ambedkar in the Dalit colony of Ramabai was desecrated by unknown individuals. An initially peaceful protest was fired on by the police, killing ten people, including a bystander who had not been involved in the protests. Later in the day, 26 people were injured when the police carried out a lathi charge against the protesters. Commentators suggested that the arbitrarily violent response from the police had been the result of caste based prejudice, as the leader of the team stood accused in multiple cases involving caste-based discrimination.[24] |
| 1999 | Senari Massacre | Uttar Pradesh | The Maoists extremist centre dominated by Yadav and Dusadh slaughtered 34 Bhumihar in Senari village near Jahanabad.[25] |
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| Year | Event | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Afsar massacre | Bihar | This incident was a consequence of rivalry for domination between upper-caste Bhumihars and backward-caste Kurmis. The killing of 12 Bhumihars sparked anger among Bhumihar youths. The perpetrators of the incident were members of the Ashok Mahto gang, formed by a Koeri militant who was also responsible for atrocities against upper castes including murder of sitting member of parliament Rajo Singh from Bihar.[10][26] |
| 2000 | Kambalapalli incident | Karnataka | On 11 March 2000, seven Dalits were locked in a house and burnt alive by an upper-caste Reddy mob in Kambalapalli, Kolar district of Karnataka state. The Civil Rights Enforcement (CRE) Cell investigation revealed deep-rooted animosity between the Dalits and the upper-castes as the reason for the violence.[27] The witnesses in the case, many of whom had narrowly escaped with their lives, had turned hostile during the trial in a lower court, resulting in a similar acquittal in 2006. Immediately after that verdict was delivered, many of the witnesses told the media that they backtracked because of threats from upper-caste groups.[28] A subsequent plea for a retrial was rejected by the High Court.[29]
A division bench of Karnataka High Court acquitted all 46 accused in August 2014. The bench headed by Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar held that a conviction would be "pre-judicial" to the interest of the accused given that 14 years had passed since the incident and all the 22 eyewitnesses had since turned hostile. The court also observed that the investigating police officer and some of the eyewitnesses were not cross-examined properly. |
| 2005 | Jahanabad prison raid | Bihar | In 2005, Jahanabad, an area where Bhumihars are numerous, saw massive attacks and cordoning-off with the whole town under control of Maoists for more than two hours. About 200 armed men belonging to low caste agricultural labourers, led by poor peasants of castes such as the Koeri and Teli, attacked the district prison. They killed members of Ranvir Sena who were incarcerated there and returned with their comrades including Ajay Kanu, a Teli by caste.[30] |
| 2006 | Khairlanji massacre | Maharashtra | On September 29, 2006, four members of the Bhotmange family belonging to the Mahar community were killed by a mob of 40 people belonging to the Maratha Kunbi caste. The incident happened in Kherlanji, a small village in Bhandara district of Maharashtra. The Mahars are Dalit, while the Kunbi are classified as an Other Backward Class by the Indian government. The Bhotmanges were stripped naked and paraded to the village square by a mob of 40 people. The sons were ordered to rape their mother and sister, and when they refused, their genitals were mutilated before they were murdered.[31] An initial call to the police was ignored, and a search for the bodies was deliberately delayed 2 days. The bodies were found in a canal, and due to the length of time the bodies were in the water, much of the physical evidence was contaminated or destroyed.[32] The subsequent police and political inaction led to protests from Dalits. After allegations of a cover-up, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).[33] |
| 2006 | 2006 Dalit protests | Maharashtra | In November–December 2006, the vandalism of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, triggered violent protests by Dalits in Maharashtra. Several people remarked that the protests were fueled by the Khairlanji massacre.[34] During the violent protests, the Dalit protestors set 3 trains on fire, damaged over 100 buses, and clashed with police[35] At least 4 deaths and many more injuries were reported.[36][37] |
| 2008 | Gurjar agitation in Rajasthan | Rajasthan | To get 5 percent reservation in government service, the andolan took place and cause 72 deaths of Gurjars. |
| 2009 | Gangrape of Suman Balai | Rajasthan | Three Rajput men gangraped Suman Balai, a student, from their village after forcibly taking her to a dry well. They were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, the Rajputs of the village harassed the Dalit woman for filing the complaint against their fellow Rajputs. This harassment ultimately resulted in her suicide.[38] |
| 2011 | Mirchpur Dalit killings incident | Haryana | In 2010, at Mirchpur, a Valmiki community colony of Dalits, a 2 year old dog allegedly barked at some 10 to 15 drunk boys from the Jat community who rode on motorcycles in front of the house of Jai Prakash. One of the Jat boys, Rajinder Pali, hurled a brick at the dog, causing a young Dalit to object. A physical fight ensued between them and the Jat boys threatened dire consequences. Later, two Valmiki elders named Veer Bhan and Karan Singh apologised to Jat elders but were beaten by them. On 21 April 2010, the Dalits met away from Mirchpur by arrangement with the police to achieve a compromise.[39] In their absence, 300 to 400 Jat men[40] and women went to Mirchpur, ransacked houses for jewels, cash and clothes, and then set the homes ablaze with Dalit women and children inside.[41] This led to death by burning of 70-year-old Tara Chand and his 18-year-old physically challenged daughter Suman.[39][42] After this incident, 200 Dalit families left the village fearing for their safety. Only 50 families remained with a group of 75 CRPF personnel deployed in the village.[43] Police named 103 people in the charge sheet out of which 5 were juveniles.[44] |
| 2012 | Dharmapuri violence | Tamil Nadu | In December 2012 approximately 268 dwellings — huts, tiled-roof and one or two-room concrete houses — of Dalits of the Adi Dravida community near Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri district of western Tamil Nadu were torched by the higher-caste Vanniyar. The victims have alleged that ‘systematic destruction’ of their properties and livelihood resources has taken place.[45]
In December 2012, in case of caste violence, two men named Akbar Ali and Mustafa Ansari were beaten by Muslims.[46] |
| 2013 | Marakkanam violence | Tamil Nadu | In April 2013, violence broke out between the villagers along East Coast Road near Marakkanam and those travelling to Vanniyar dominant caste gathering at Mamallapuram. A mob indulged in setting fire to houses, 4 buses of TNSTC and PRTC. 3 people were injured in police firing. Traffic was closed in ECR for a day.[47] |
| 2015 | Dalit violence in Dangawas | Rajasthan, Nagaur district | On Thursday, May 14, 2015, clashes between Jats and Dalits in Dangawas village of Rajasthan's Nagaur district left 4 people dead and 13 injured.[48] |
| 2016 | Violence following the suicide of Rohith Vemula | Hyderabad | The suicide of Rohith Vemula, of Central University of Hyderabad, on 18 January 2016 sparked protests and outrage from across India and gained widespread media attention as an alleged case of discrimination against Dalits and backward classes in India in which elite educational institutions have been purportedly seen as an enduring vestige of caste-based discrimination against students belonging to "backward classes". |
| 2016 | Ariyalur gang rape case | Tamil Nadu | In December 2016, a Hindu Munnani Union Secretary and three of his accomplices gang-raped, and murdered a 17-year-old minor Dailt girl in Keezhamaligai village, Ariyalur district.[49] The police revealed that the Hindu Munnani functionary was irritated over the lower-caste dalit girl who insisted to marry her after she got pregnant with him.[50] The men also pulled out the fetus from her womb.[51] Later, her body was found in decomposed state in a well with her hands tied, stripped of all jewelry and clothes.[52][49] |
| 2017 | Anandpal Singh murder case | Rajasthan | The murder case of Anandpal Singh was a culmination of various events which were result of battle for dominance between Jats and Rajput of Rajasthan. It was claimed by supporters of Singh that his encounter was a conspiracy. The allegations were also made that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, a maratha and Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, a Jats,[53] both were involved though charges were never proved.[54][55][56][57] |
| 2017 | Saharanpur violence | Uttar Pradesh | Violence broke out between Thakurs and dalits during the procession of Rajput warrior-king Maharana Pratap over the loud music. In the violence one man was killed, 16 were injured, and 25 Dalit houses were burned. The incident was connected to MP Raghav Lakhanpal, BJP member from Saharanpur.[58] |
| 2018 | Bhima Koregaon violence | Maharashtra, Pune | This event was an attack on visitors during an annual celebratory gathering at Bhima Koregaon to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon victory.
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| 2018 | April caste protests in India | India | In early April 2018, lakhs of people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) protested across India against an order of the Supreme Court on the Atrocities Act. In subsequent violence, 14 people died and hundreds were injured.[62][63][64][65] |
| 2019 | Suicide of Payal Tadvi | Maharashtra, Mumbai | On 22 May 2019, Dr. Payal Tadvi, a 26-year-old Schedule-Tribe Muslim gynaecologist,[66] died by suicide in Mumbai.[67] For months leading up to her death, she had told her family that she was subjected to ragging by three "upper" caste women doctors;[68] however, the accused denied of having any knowledge of Tadvi's tribal background.[69][70] They allegedly went to the toilet and then wiped their feet on her bed, called her casteist slurs, made fun of her for being a tribal on WhatsApp groups and threatened to not allow her to enter operation theatres or perform deliveries. A few hours before she took her life, she had reportedly told her mother, once again, about this harassment. |
| 2020 | Hathras gang rape & murder | Uttar Pradesh, Hathras district | In September 2020, a dalit girl in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh was allegedly murdered by 4 men from Thakur caste. According to victim's family, the girl was gang raped by Thakurs of the Village and in order to eliminate the evidences her backbone was broken and the tongue was cut by the perpetrators. The girl has confessed the same on a video shot inside the Hospital. The Police secretly burned her dead body at midnight without conducting any Post Mortem Test. [71] |
| 2022 | Murder of Indra Meghwal | Jalore district, Rajasthan | A nine year old Dalit boy, named Indra Meghwal, was assaulted by a teacher after touching a pot of drinking water meant only for upper castes, which led to his death after 24 days.[72] |
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- List of caste based violence in Bihar
- Communalism (South Asia)
- History of India
- Human rights in India
- Partition of India
- Religion in India
- Freedom of religion in India
- Religious harmony in India
- Human rights in India
- Religious violence in India
- Terrorism in India
- Crime in India
- Caste system in India
- Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
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