Gharwal (Sonepat), September 9
The sarvkhap and the sarvjatiya panchayat today decided to boycott BSP leader Mayawati and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan for allegedly inflaming passions of Dalits after an attack on Balmiki Colony at Gohana on August 31.
The panchayat also gave on ultimatum to the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government to withdraw cases filed against 23 persons on the charge of torching over 50 houses of Dalits by September 20.
Reading out the decisions taken by a committee comprising representatives of khaps, tapas and barhas in the panchayat, president of Meham Chaubisi Surat Singh said if cases were not withdrawn by the deadline, the future course of action would be decided at a meeting of the Butana Barha panchayat after September 20.
He said the panchayat also demanded that the four persons arrested in connection with the attack on Balmiki Colony should be released within three days. Four persons — Rajesh of Chhatehra village, Rampal of Nooran Khera village, Radhey Sham of Lath village and Manoj of Bhainswan Khurd village — were arrested in connection with the torching of the houses of Dalits.
He claimed that all 23 persons, including Baljeet’s five brothers, Sonepat BJP MP Kishan Singh Sangwan’s son and brother booked for burning Dalits’ houses were innocent and had nothing to do with the attack on Balmiki Colony.
Stating that the panchayat of Butana Barha had never decided to burn Balmiki Colony, he said that if it was proved, all members of the panchayat were ready to face any punishment. He said the panchayat would accept an inquiry by the CBI and would have no objection if the agency booked any person in both cases.
The panchayat demanded that Baljeet’s family should be given at least Rs 25 lakh as compensation, besides a government job to one of his family members, he said adding that no compensation should be provided to Dalits who were involved in Baljeet’s murder.
The panchayat was held under the presidency of Butana Barha president Balbir Singh Kundu, who formed a committee of representatives of khaps, tapas and barhas. The committee took several decisions at a closed-door meeting and got approval from the participants after reading these out from the dais.
Addressing the participants, president of the sarvkhap panchayat Swami Karampal said 4,000 khaps of four states were supporting Barha Butana village on this issue. President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ghasi Ram Nain also attended the panchayat.
Meanwhile, the district administration heaved a sigh of relief with the passing of the panchayat peacefully. All entry points to Gohana were sealed with deployment of police personnel near New Anaj Mandi on the Jind road, Fawara Chowk and Panipat Chungi to check anti-social elements.
