BJP-ruled States Outdo Others in Crimes against Dalits

by S.R. Darapuri

It has again come up prominently in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) “Crime in India—2016” Report that the BJP-ruled States outdo other States in atrocities against Dalits (Scheduled Castes). The same scenario was during 2015 also. At present the BJP-ruled States are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jharkhand where cases of Dalit atrocities are more than in the non-BJP-ruled States. This situation exposes Modi’s show of abundant sympathy and love for Dalits. Apart from it, there are some other States like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where Dalit atrocities are also higher than the national rate (crime per one lakh population).

Total Crime against Dalits during 2016

During this period the total number was 40,801 which exceeds the figure of 38,670 (during 2015) by 2131. As such there has been an increase of 5.5 per cent over last year’s figure. During 2016 the national average, that is, crime against one lakh Dalit population was 20.3. Among these figures the number of cases relating to outraging the women’s modesty was 3172 which was 7.7 per cent of the total crimes against Dalit women. Similarly the total number of rape cases was 2541 which was 6.2 per cent of the total crimes against Dalit women.

Similarly during 2016 the total crimes against Scheduled Tribes (tribals) was 6568 which was 4.7 per cent more than the crime figure of 2015. There were 974 rape cases on tribal women which was 14.8 per cent of total crimes committed against tribal women. The cases relating to outraging the modesty of tribal women were 835 which was 12.7 per cent of the total crime. Thus it becomes clear that Dalit/tribal women are not safe under BJP rule.

If we look at the number and rate of incidence of crimes against Dalits in the BJP-ruled States, it transpires that Madhya Pradesh stands first where the number of crimes was 5134 and the crime rate was 42.0 per cent which is just double of the national rate of 20.3 per cent. Similarly Rajasthan, with a total crime figure of 5134 and crime rate of 42.0 per cent which is again double of the national crime rate, stands second. After it Goa stands third with the crime rate of 36.7 per cent. Gujarat stands 5th with the crime rate of 32.3 per cent which is just 1-1/2 times the national crime rate. From this, it becomes clear that in most of the States ruled by the BJP the rate of incidence of crimes against Dalits and tribals is much higher than the national crime rate.

The crime-wise State position is as follows:

1. Murder: During the above period, the crime figure of murder of Dalits was 786 and the rate per one lakh population was 0.4 per cent. Gujarat, where 35 Dalits were murdered in 32 cases with a 0.8 crime rate, stood first in the whole country. After this Madhya Pradesh with 81, Haryana with 34 and Uttar Pradesh with 274 murders in 271 cases with crime rate of 0.7 stood second. Rajasthan with 67 murders in 66 cases with a crime rate of 0.5 occupied the 5th position. From this, it transpires that the incidence of the crime of murder against Dalits in the BJP States is higher than the national rate.

2. Attempt to Murder: During the above period the total incidence of this crime in the whole country was 732 and the rate per lakh was 0.4. In this crime Rajasthan with 106 and Gujarat with 35 cases with crime rate of 0.9, which is just double of national rate, stood first. Maharashtra with the crime figure of 60 which affected 71 persons and crime rate of 0.5 is higher than the national rate. This makes it very clear that Dalits are not safe in the BJP-ruled States.

3. Grievous Hurt: During 2016 there were 1070 cases in the whole country in which 1148 Dalits were grievously hurt and the national rate was 0.5. This rate in Gujarat was 1.6, 1.5 in Bihar, 1.3 in Odisha, 1.0 in Kerala and 0.8 in Madhya Pradesh, much higher than the national rate.

4. Crime of Attempt to Outrage the Modesty of Dalit Women: During this period the total number of cases under this category was 3172 and the national rate was 1.6. Under this head the rate of incidence of crime in Madhya Pradesh was 6.0, 3.6 in Andhra Pradesh, 2.7 in Maharashtra, 2.0 in Haryana and 0.6 in Gujarat showing that this rate is higher than the national rate.

5. Crime of Outraging the Modesty of Dalit women: Under this head the total incidence of crime in the country was 1268 and the national average was 0.6. The rate of this crime in Madhya Pradesh was 3.6, 1.1 in Chhattisgarh, and 1.3 in Maharashtra, 0.8 in Rajasthan, 0.7 Haryana and 0.6 in Gujarat which is higher than the national average.

6. Rape: Under this head the total number of cases of rape of Dalit women was 2536 in which 2540 Dalit women were victims and the national average was 1.3. The rate of incidence of this crime was 4.7 in Kerala, 3.9 in Madhya Pradesh, 2.9 in Chhattisgarh, 2.7 in Rajasthan, 1.9 in Haryana and 1.7 in Maharashtra which is much higher than the national rate. In fact rape is used as a weapon to demoralise the Dalits.

7. Crime under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act: The total incidence of crime under this head was 35,676 in which 36,855 persons were affected and the national rate was 18.0 per one lakh population. The rate of this crime was 43.4 in Madhya Pradesh, 41.1 in Rajasthan, 32.9 in Bihar, 28.4 in Gujarat, 25.0 in Odisha, 23.7 in Kerala, 22.6 in Uttar Pradesh which is much higher than national rate of 18.0.

From the above analysis it is clear that most of the BJP-ruled States are ahead of non-BJP-ruled States in crimes against Dalits and tribals. These statistics show that Modi’s slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas” and display of his love and sympathy for Dalits stands exposed. The recent incident of attack on Dalits in Koregaon also exposes the hypocrisy of the BJP.

The author is a retired IPS officer and Organiser, Jan Munch, Uttar Pradesh.