Thangadh Dalit victims’ relatives want changes in land records, meet collector

RAJKOT: Family members of three Dalit victims killed in police firing at Thangadh, in September 2012, made a representation to the Surendranagar collector on Tuesday to include their names in the land records with the revenue department.
Valji Rathod father of deceased Mehul Rathod (17), Baluben Sumra mother of slain Pankaj Sumra (16) and Gita Parmar wife of deceased Prakash Parmar (26), met Surendranagar collector Udit Agarwal on Tuesday.

They made an oral representation that five years ago they were given possession of land in their village but the records still showed that it was under ownership of the state government. They demanded that the changes be made in the land records at the earliest.

Confirming the meeting with family members of the Thangadh Dalit vicitms, Agarwal said, “They wanted the changes to be done in the land records. The issue is regarding promulgation of land records which has been caused by some technical error. Many other people are also facing the same issue. I have assured them that the necessary correction will be made at the earliest.”

Even after more than five years, the state government is yet to make the inquiry report of Thangadh Dalit killing public. Recently, the state government told the assembly that it was not inclined towards making the report public or tabling it in the House. The state government’s written response came despite the 2016 order of the Gujarat Information Commissioner (GIC) directing it to take a decision on making the probe report public.

On the intervening night of September 22 and September 23, in 2012, three Dalit youths Pankaj Sumra (16), Mehul Rathod (17) and Prakash Parmar (26) were killed in police firing in Thangadh town of Surendranagar. Police had fired while trying to control a clash between people of two communities. After the incident, the state government had asked senior IAS officer Sanjay Prasad to conduct an inquiry. He had submitted the report on May 1, 2013. But the government is yet to make the inquiry report public.