Quarrel over cricket takes casteist turn

Ahmedabad: Though India’s first world-class bowler P Baloo was a Dalit, it seems members of the community are still struggling in the city to join the gentlemen’s game. On Sunday, in the Satellite area of the city, a 14-year-old Dalit boy and his parents were beaten by members of an OBC community who didn’t want that Dalits play in the public ground.
According to the FIR filed with Satellite police, Raju Parmar, 40, came to know on Sunday morning that some persons were beating his 14-year-old son, Jainik, at the ground near Gokul Awas Yojana houses. When Raju along with his wife reached there, he saw one Isha Rabari was thrashing Jainik.

When Raju asked why he was beating the boy, Rabari who was backed by some other members of his community, said, “We have asked Dalit boys not to play here in this ground. Then why do you people come to play here?” At this, Raju told Rabari not to utter abusive words about his caste. This irked Rabari and others even more, who started beating Jainik with a cricket bat. When Raju and his wife, Ramila tried to rescue Jainik, Rabari also thrashed them badly, stated the FIR. A team of Satellite police rescued Raju, Jainik and Ramila and took them to New Civil Hospital in Sola. Inspector M B Jhala of Satellite police station said that the arguments between children took an ugly turn when Jainik was beaten. Besides, Rabari also filed an application to lodge an FIR against Raju. On the basis of Raju’s complaint, Rabari and his associates were booked under relevant sections of IPC.