Gujarat Among 5 Worst States in Atrocities Against Dalits

New Delhi: From recent attacks on Dalits for donning upper caste-like mustache to Una Dalit floggings, cases of atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat have made it to headlines times and again. Last month, BJP chief Amit Shah said Gujarat was among the states which witnessed least atrocities against Dalits. But government records show a different picture.

Gujarat's crime rate — case registered per 100,000 population — against Scheduled Castes was fifth highest among 26 states and Union Territories that registered such atrocities. Madhya Pradesh topped the list at 45.1%.

The crime rate for atrocities against scheduled castes (SCs) in Gujarat was 32.5% in 2016, above the national average of 20.4%, according to government data.

Additionally, the state's conviction rate for atrocities against SCs was 4.7% in 2016, substantially below the national average of 27.3% and 60% in Uttar Pradesh, the state that reported most atrocities against SCs.

Earlier this month, a Dalit man was allegedly lynched by members of upper caste Patel community for watching people do the garba, the traditional Gujarati dance.

In another incident, a Dalit man was beaten up in Gandhinagar district by Rajputs for sporting a moustache. The response to the violence was palpable on social media, with people posting selfies on Twitter and Facebook, showing off their moustache. Post that, Dalit leader Jagdish Mewani was detained outside the Gujarat Secretariat during a protest march.

As many as 1,321 atrocities against Dalits were reported in Gujarat in 2016, according to a submission in the Rajya Sabha on July 26 2017.

Atrocities reported against SCs in Gujarat saw a rise to the tune of 31% — from 1,009 cases in 2015 to 1,321 in 2016.

As far as national data was concerned, atrocities reported against SCs across the country increased 6% — from 38,564 in 2015 to 41,014 in 2016.

In terms of number of cases, Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 10,457 cases, followed by Bihar (5,701), Rajasthan (5,134), Madhya Pradesh (5,123) and Andhra Pradesh (2,343).