“Sabka Vishwas” tracker

Original image courtesy Newsclick.in

On May 25, 2019, two days after sweeping back to power, Prime Minister Modi made a speech at the Central Hall of Parliament. He said, “We belong with those who voted for us and with those who consider us their enemy.” He spoke of minorities living in fear, but claimed that this fear is an imaginary creation of vote-bank politics. In the video of the speech below he evoked the memory of Baba Saheb Ambedkar as the camera panned obligingly to the portrait of him hung in the historic hall. Modi said the new government must take it upon itself to win the faith of all minorities: “Sabka Vishwas”.

June 17, Kolkata, West Bengal: Students of Rabindra Bharati University allegedly harassed and used casteist slurs against Saraswati Karketta, an assistant professor of the university.
Read: Saraswati Karketta Latest victim of caste slur and harassment in Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta

June 17, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh: Vinay Saroj, a resident of Pratap Garh is burnt alive allegedly by members of some upper caste persons over an argument in the backdrop of India- Pakistan match.
Read: Charred body of farmer found in UP’s Pratapgarh, probe on

June 21, Jharkhand: Seven Christian families have been forced to flee their village after facing intimidation, harassment and threats from a local fundamentalist group, Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM). Three other families have been forcefully converted to Hinduism.
Read: Christian families forcibly displaced

June 26, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal: Three men were reportedly pushed off a moving train for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
Read: Three men in West Bengal pushed off moving train on refusing to chant “Jai Shri Ram”

June 26, Malda district, West Bengal: 24-year old Sanaul Sheikh was beaten to death after being accused of allegedly stealing a bike.
Read: Now 24-Year-Old Sanaul Lynched In Bengal Over Bike Theft Allegation

June 26, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu: Dharshinipriya, a 17 year old dalit girl succumbed to injuries today morning (June 29) after being attacked by the kin of her husband in Mettupalayam of Coimbatore district. The intercaste marriage of Kanagaraj and Dharshinipriya had irked the elder brother of the former. The vicious attack by Vinodh Kumar on Tuesday, June 26, resulted in the immediate death of Kanagaraj, while Dharshinipriya was hospitalised with severe injuries.
Read more: Honour Killing Claims Lives of Couple in Coimbatore

June 27, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh: An upper caste youth ran his speeding vehicle over a dalit family killing two women of the family and injuring two others. The incident happened after the youth tried to molest one of the girls in the family. Frustrated at the failed attempt, the youth left the scene but brought the speeding vehicle back and crushed the family, a scene which was captured in a CCTV camera. Two women died on the spot while two other members of the family are injured.
Read: An Upper Caste Youth Runs His Vehicle Over A Dalit Family, Killing Two Women

June 28, Una, Gujarat: 29-year-old Piyush Sarvaiya was allegedly beaten up by two men, including a convict in the murder case of the victim’s elder brother. In his complaint, the victim said that the incident took place while he was passing through Una town on his way to Gir Gadhda from his village of Ankolali on his motorbike.
Read: Gujarat: Una Dalit ‘beaten up’ by man convicted of killing his brother

June 28, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh: A 17-year-old madrasa student was allegedly assaulted in a moving train by a group of five men and was also forced to remove his ‘skull cap’. As per reports, Mohd Farman Niazi, a student of a madrasa in Bareilly, was travelling from his home in Aligarh by the train when a group of 10-15 people boarded the train at Rajghat Narora station.
Read: Madrasa Student Allegedly Thrashed Till Unconscious on Moving Train in Aligarh

June 28, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu: Three manual scavangers died while cleaning the septic tanks filled with pig faeces in a farm. Tamil Nadu has the ignominy of having recorded the highest number of deaths due to manual scavenging in the last five years.
Read: Three Manual Scavangers Die While Cleaning The Septic Tank Of A Pig Farm In Coimbator

June 28, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh: A 16-year-old Muslim boy was allegedly beaten by unidentified men here for wearing a traditional skull cap and refusing to chant “Jai Shri Ram”, police said.. Advertising The incident occurred on june 28, when Mohammad Taj, a resident of Barra, was returning home after offering namaz in Kidwai Nagar, the Uttar Pradesh police said.
Read: Muslim boy thrashed in Kanpur for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’

June 29, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh: In Chittoor district’s Usarapenta village, a 23-year-old woman, Y Hemavathi, who had delivered a baby boy a week ago, was allegedly abducted and killed by her father and family members on Friday for marrying a person from the SC community. Hemavathi belonged to the upper caste Naidu community. According to the victim’s husband, Keshavalu, the couple got married two years ago defying Hemavathi’s parents diktats.
Read: 23 year old new mom allegedly killed by fahter in AP for marrying Dalit man

July 5, Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh: A Dalit woman is abducted and raped allegedly by a gang of three unidentified men on Aligarh-Kanpur highway when she was going to Mainpuri for final rites of her relative. Perturbed Husband approaches local police station for help but the police officials accuse him of fabricating a false story, torture him during questioning. Later, a medical examination shows grievous injuries on his back and legs. Ashamed by the conduct of fellow officials, UP Police suspends accused absconding policemen. Victim couple looks for justice.
Read: ‘Abduction, gangrape’ on Mainpuri Highway: Attempt to murder case against SO, 3 constables

July 3, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu: In a suspected case of caste killing in Thoothukudi district, a married couple was murdered on the morning of July 3, in their front yard. The victims, who belonged to different castes under the Scheduled Castes umbrella, had been married for three months, and the woman was pregnant. The woman’s father, Alagar, has been arrested in connection to the crime.
Read: Thoothukudi caste killing: Husband and pregnant wife murdered, woman’s father held

July 7, Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh: Over 100 villagers tied 25 people with a rope and paraded them through a two-km stretch to a police station in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday for allegedly transporting cows to Maharashtra, police said.A video of the purported incident showed several villagers carrying sticks and forcing the alleged cattle-transporters to do sit-ups holding their ears amid cries of “Gau Mata Ki Jai”.
Read: 25 Tied With Rope, Forced To Say ‘Gau Mata Ki Jai’ In Madhya Pradesh

July 7, Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh: A viral video shows three Dalit youths being publicly stripped and thrashed by a mob after they were allegedly caught during a theft bid in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The images of the thrashing bring back the memories of open flogging in Una, Gujarat in 2016. Uttar Pradesh Police faces backlash over delayed action.
Read: Uttar Pradesh: Three Dalit youths stripped, beaten up for ‘theft bid’

July 8, Ahmedabad district, Gujarat: Haresh Kumar Solanki, a 25-year-old dalit man, was allegedly thrashed and then slashed by sword to death by eight people including his father-in-law and brother-in-law on the evening of July 8 in Varmor village in Ahmedabad. Solanki, who was working at Gandhidham, Kutch, had gone with his mother, brother and a relative to bring back his pregnant wife from her parent’s home in Varmor. While Solanki went to his wife’s maternal home, his mother, brother and relatives waited for him at the Varmor bus stand. However, Solanki never came back.
Read: Gujarat: Dalit Man Killed by Upper Caste In-laws While Attempting to Bring Wife Home

July 9, Burhanpur districe, Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh forest officials used pellet guns against Adivasi farmers who were resisting an eviction drive in Siwal village in Burhanpur district on July 9. Four Adivasi men were injured, and one had to be taken to a hospital in Indore, said an activist working with the community.
Read: Four Adivasis injured in alleged pellet gun firing by forest officials in Madhya Pradesh

July 10, Nagapattinam district,Tamil Nadu: A Muslim youth Mohamed Faizan, 24, of Poravachery village of Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu was allegedly attacked by members of Hindu Makkal Katchi, a Sangh Parivar outfit on Thursday, July 10, for his facebook post about eating beef. This is the first time such an attack has been carried out in Tamil Nadu. The Police have arrested five men involved in the attack.
Read: In a First, Muslim Youth Attacked Over Facebook Post on Beef in Tamil Nadu

The Indian Cultural Forum will do a regular round-up of how Modi’s “New India” holds up to the promise of “Sabka Vishwas”. This list is sourced from news reports and is by no means complete. Speaking of minority rights in one speech is not enough. It is not enough, when Hindutva forces have taken the lives of dalits, adivasis and Muslims in the last five years of the Modi government. When those forces threaten and intimidate them every day. When they rape and brutalise them. We were not silent then. We refuse to be silent under Modi’s second term as Prime Minister.