The other side of the Dadri killing

In Uttar Pradesh’s infamous district of Dadri, the village of Bisara is roiling with anger. Seven months after the killing of Mohammad Akhlaq, a Sangharsh Samiti (a committee to fight) has been set up by villagers. They are demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the arrest of 18 boys who are the accused in Akhlaq’s case.

On September 28, 2015, an agitated mob from Bisara village in Dadri district beat a 50-year old Muslim man named Mohammad Akhlaq to death, for allegedly consuming beef. An ‘announcement’ from the local temple gathered almost a thousand people in front of Akhlaq’s house and the mob agitation ended up in the death of Akhlaq and his son, Danish.

This incident took place at a time when the BJP government had already made headlines with their beef ban and sudden upsurge of love for the cow. Akhlaq’s death over alleged consumption of beef gave the perfect momentum to the stale news of beef ban by the government. Sky-high ratings were served on a platter to news channels.

Media furore followed. Politicians condemned the act. Compensations were announced. And the public discourse was set for the next few weeks.

News anchors shouted, panellists fought for equality and secularism in newsrooms.
Awards were returned, intolerance marches were set out to protest against the rising intolerance and the debate conveniently shifted from the local murder to the national intolerance.

Meanwhile, 18 boys were in prison and few paid attention to their story.

THE OTHER SIDE

Sanjay Rana, a petrified neighbour and “close friend” of Mohammad Akhlaq, called the police at 10.28pm on the night of September 28, 2015. “The local temple priest announced that Akhlaq and his family has consumed beef and within minutes, a mob of about 1,000 angry people gathered outside Akhlaq’s house,” he said. “I called up the police immediately and asked them to stop the violent ruckus being created in the village.”

Once the death was announced, the local police took 18 boys from the village out of the mob and into custody. Assuring everyone that these boys were being taken only for general questioning, the police have still not released them.

Furious at this, the villagers have formed a Sangharsh Samiti, which has two main demands.
“One, we want to have the forensic report shown to us, ascertaining as to what was the food product actually consumed by Akhlaq and his family,” said Rana, who is the father of two of the arrested boys. “Two, we demand a CBI investigation into the case, probing the arrest of 18 of our boys from the village without any evidence.”
He complained, “People and media are accusing us of protesting, but we are only fighting a legal battle, fully keeping the constitution in mind. I have complete faith in my constitution and in my God.”

Rana said the entire village is disappointed with the one-sided coverage of the incident.
“When Akhlaq died, politicians from all the political parties came, spoke in front of cameras, condoned with their empty words and left in their cars,” he said. “The media kept playing their breaking news about the death of Akhlaq. Akhlaq was like my elder brother. We have celebrated festivals together, and I was the one who informed the police to intervene when people started bashing him up. But, the truth remains that people absolutely ignored what was happening to us. Why is no one talking about our kids who have been arrested without any basis? Why is no news channel breaking the news that we are not being shown the forensic reports?”

“Nyaay wo sahi hota hai jahan kanoon samaan roop se kaam kare” (Only that kind of justice is actually right where the law works equally on all fronts), he expressed.

The village Pradhan, also named Sanjay Rana, expressed similar sentiments towards the issue. “We need a CBI investigation into this case to have the truth in front of us. If we don’t get a yes for the CBI investigation on May 4, we are fully prepared to keep struggling on this. We will not give up. We will sit on a dharna.”

Kiran Rana, Akhlaq’s neighbour’s wife, said one of her sons needed a special diet because he’d had suffered an accident a few months ago. Breaking into tears, she said, “How do I expect those unfair and inconsiderate people to take proper care of my child?”

Another concerned mother, who requested anonymity, said, “Akhlaq’s family was polite and genial. This village has never had any problems on the basis of religion or anything else. We live like a family. But Akhlaq did that one thing and it has turned all our lives up and down. His family has received their compensation and they have left the village, but our kids are rotting in jail now. Our entire life is ruined. What are we supposed to do?”

The women of the village recently came into news for protesting against their sons’ arrest when they refused to celebrate Holi. They also forcibly shut down the local school. The police intervened and stopped their actions. “If we don’t do this, then what are we expected to do? Sit in our houses, cry and keep waiting?” asked one of the women. “The original date for the decision on the CBI investigation was April 14. Now, it has been pushed to May 4. If we apply for bails, they push the dates by months. How are we supposed to get out of this?”

Talking of the aid by the government of Uttar Pradesh, Sanjay Rana, the father of two of the accused boys expressed, “Our only hope is the court and constitution now. We have given up on the UP government.”

Proudly describing his village as the one which had reported no crime on the basis of religion since independence, Rana said, “With this one incident, everything has changed. Today, we feel hesitant to even look at the people we celebrated all our festivals with. Despite this, we are gradually overcoming these problems. Just a week back, when one of my Muslim friends invited me for the wedding of his daughter, only I know what my plight was.”

With tears in his eyes, Rana said, “Raajneeti karne ke bohot tareeke hain, hindu-musalmano ko toh akela chhod do.” (“There are lot of ways to fight politics, leave us Hindus and Muslims alone.”)

ONE IN A CROWD

With Akhlaq’s family now settled in New Delhi, there’s just one Muslim family remaining in this village. The only woman in this Muslim household refused any eye contact for the first fifteen minutes. The conversation was awkward at first. It took a while for her to find the confidence to say, “Darr toh nahi hai aas paas koi, par sab pehle jaisa nahi raha. Kisi ne kuch kaha nahi hai, par chehre se toh pata chal hi jaata hai.” (“There is nothing to fear around us, but things are not the same anymore. Nobody has said anything specifically to us but you can figure things out by looking at the faces.”)

On asking her whether she would like to go to a Muslim-dominated area now, she hesitated and then let the words slip by, “Jayenge toh accha hi hoga, par paise toh nahi hai na.” (“It would be good to leave, but I don’t have the money.”)

Talking of her two children, though, there was a little sliver of positivity. “The children remain unaffected and have no problem amongst them, whatsoever,” she said. “They go to school together, study together and play together without any problems.”

More interestingly however, the Station Officer (SO) at the Jarcha Police Station was transferred a few days back. (Bisara village pradhan Sanjay Rana informed us that the boys have been held at the Jarcha police station.) When Newslaundry contacted him, Mr. Ravinder Rathi bluntly cut the call short the moment the Bisara village case was mentioned. He just said that he had been transferred from there.

The official number of the new SO at the Jarcha Police station has been unavailable.

QUESTIONS

How can the sons who have lost their father as well as one of the brothers stay quiet after a compensation of Rs 45 lakhs? What about the wife who has lost her husband as well as her son? Why are they not fighting for a CBI enquiry into the ruination of their family? What about the government which has conveniently sidelined the police hooliganism in this case?

And most importantly, what about the media who is no longer interested in justice, fair reporting, ground facts and balanced reporting? Or should we wait until the next U.P. elections for Dadri to gain primetime coverage and panel debates again?

NOTE: On May 4, Newslaundry was informed by the village sarpanch that the hearing has been further pushed to July 10. However, CBI has been made one of the parties to the court hearing on July 10, in addition to the already added UP State government and the Central government. This hearing will decide if the investigation will be led by CBI or not.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @anjaliSharma57