Rajasthan: Police will provide security to Dalit grooms, why was such an order issued?
Police department started preparations under Operation Equality, special monitoring in districts prone to Dalit oppression.
In May 2015, a Dalit groom had to wear a helmet at a wedding to avoid being attacked by an upper caste in Negrun village in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. File pic- IndiaTV
Published on: 17 Jan 2024, 3:59 pm
Jaipur. Malamas is over. With this, the process of marriages has started across the country. As soon as the wedding season starts, Rajasthan Police has issued a special order. The police have been ordered to find out where Dalits are getting married in their district. The police has been given the responsibility of guarding these marriages.
It is noteworthy that under Operation Equality, the State Police Headquarters has issued a circular and given the responsibility to all the District Superintendents of Police to conduct Bindauli of Dalits in a safe and respectable manner in their areas.
Police have been ordered to keep an eye on the marriages of Dalits for a special reason. In fact, in the last ten years, 138 cases of Dalit grooms being thrown from mare have been reported from different places of Rajasthan. When a Dalit groom rides a mare during a wedding, the upper caste people remove him from the mare. The Police Headquarters has issued an order to ensure that this incident does not repeat itself this time.
Regarding the order, Shivlal Bairwa, Additional District Superintendent of Police of Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, said, “This is a routine process. Under this, we identify the areas prone to Dalit oppression and do counseling work there.”
Bairwa further said, “Such incidents are rarely seen in Southern Rajasthan. Most of the cases of this type have been reported from the districts of Dausa, Bharatpur, Dholpur etc. of Eastern Rajasthan. Special monitoring is being done in these districts.”
Rajasthan Police Headquarters has ordered all the police officers to find out how many Dalit families are getting married after this Kharmas. Along with this, the constable should keep a special eye on these marriages by talking to the Panch, Sarpanch, Councilor and police friend of the area. In marriage, it should be kept in mind that no groom should be removed from the mare because he is a Dalit.
immediate action will be taken
It has been said in the order that if a case of Dalit groom being thrown from a mare comes to light at any place, then immediate action will be taken there. A case will be registered against the culprits immediately and action will be taken against them. Let us tell you that many such cases have come to light in the last ten years. Now, after the end of Kharmas, the police headquarters has taken strict action on this and has already given the police the responsibility of monitoring the marriages of Dalits.
Why is Operation Parity in discussion?
On April 5, 2022, Khiladi Lal Bairwa, Chairman of the State Scheduled Caste Commission of Rajasthan, in the meeting of district level officials in Bundi district, had directed to work on campaign level in other cases of Scheduled Caste category on the lines of ‘Operation Equality’.
Main points of the campaign
-Operation Equality, which started from January 24, is an innovation of Bundi Police, which is now being implemented in the entire state.
-Under this, the beat constables at the police station level have to identify such villages in their area, where Dalit grooms have not yet sat on the mare or any untoward incident has happened while sitting on the mare or they have been thrown off the mare.
-After marking, equality committees are formed in such villages so that the brides and grooms of Dalit community can be taken out on horses without any dispute and untoward incident.
-It is noteworthy that despite the right to equality provided under Part 3 of the Constitution (Articles 14-18), various types of discrimination including untouchability are done against SC/ST communities. In such a situation, this step of Rajasthan Police is highly commendable.
