If Babasaheb Ambedkar had been alive today -- April 14, 2015 -- he would have been 125 years old. In the predominantly tribal and dalit district of Sonbhadra, it was natural that Gambhira Prasad, President of the Kanhar Bandh Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti (KBVSS), decided to mark the day. He chose to do it with a silent protest against the Kanhar dam. For the people of Sonbhadra, the dam is the emblem of all that is wrong with the way the constitution is being adhered to today.
The Kanhar dam, first conceived in 1976, had languished until December 2014 when the Uttar Pradesh government finally started construction. In that period, changes happened in its vicinity in the form of protests led by the Kanhar Bachao Andolan, a unanimous rejection of the project by all the Gram sabhas in the area, and environmental changes -- both in the forests as well as in peoples' understanding of river and forest functions.
19 days after work on the dam had begun, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) stayed further construction at the dam site following a petition by O.D. Singh (Uttar Pradesh People’s Union for Civil Liberties) and Debadityo Sinha (Vindhya Bachao). The state government ignored the Court order and still continues to do so. The people have been protesting and continue to do so, despite numerous FIRs lodged against the protesters, harassment under the 'Gunda Act' and alleged threats by the police and the administration.
And so, along with Gambhira, about 1500 villagers stood at the dam site carrying photographs of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
What happened next is a matter of debate. The protesters maintain that they were merely standing at the site; the police claim that they were attacked by an unruly mob. Whatever the trigger, it ended with 44 people injured, nine seriously. Four days after that firing, the people rallied again, and were brutally dealt with.
Many citizens find themselves asking how this could have happened. We have tried to answer some questions.
Further, there is a protocol to be followed. To quote the Maharashtra Police again, 'First, plenty of warnings to the crowd to disperse must be given with time for the crowd to obey. Then, teargas may be used or a lathi charge resorted to after another warning. Lathis cannot rain down blows on head and shoulders but must be aimed below the waist.
If the police are going to have to resort to firing there has to be a clear and distinct warning that firing will be effective. Here too the rule is to use minimal force. So firing must aim low and at the most threatening part of the crowd with a view not to cause fatalities but to disperse the crowd. As soon as the crowd show signs of breaking up the firing must stop.'
To the best of the knowledge obtained by the fact-finding mission that arrived in the area soon after the incident, this protocol was not followed at Kanhar.
Considering that according to the Police Act (1861), an officer is responsible for his/her own actions even if ordered to do so, the police are being made the scapegoats of politicians.
The people of Kanhar valley began the day by marking Ambedkar Jayanti as 'Save the constitution Day'. By 7 am, they were the victims of state-sanctioned police brutality that clearly illustrates the differential treatment meted out to dalits and adivasis by our democracy.
What would Babasaheb Ambedkar have said had he been alive today?