Explained: How Dalit boy's killing has put Ashok Gehlot’s govt under pressure

The killing of a Dalit boy has triggered a crisis for the Rajasthan government of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. On Tuesday, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who had launched a rebellion against Gehlot, said ’the government cannot take things for granted’, and 12 Congress councillors sent resignation letters to the chief minister. Party leader Sachin Pilot also met the boy’s family. This comes on the same day that Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, along with Women and Child Welfare Minister Mamta Bhupesh, PWD Minister Bhajan Lal Jatav and Disaster Management and Relief Minister Govind Ram Meghwal visited the boy’s home at Surana village in Jalore. Dotasra announced a financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the Dalit boy. The BJP and BSP have also gone on the attack, calling the regime ‘weak’ and demanding President’s Rule. Nine-year-old Indra Meghwal, a student of a private school in Surana village of Jalore district, was beaten up on 20 July allegedly by his schoolteacher for touching a drinking water pot. Meghwal later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Police have arrested the teacher, Chail Singh, 40, and charged him with murder and under sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Let’s take a look at the latest developments in the crisis threatening to engulf the Gehlot government. Gehlot on backfoot, takes fire from own party Gehlot, who had announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the victim’s family and handing over the case to the case officer scheme for speedy investigation to ensure a swift probe, is now under fire from his own party. Speaking to NDTV after meeting the victim’s family, Pilot on Tuesday said, “Just because we are in government, we cannot take things for granted.” “The government has taken action against the teacher and school. There is some financial compensation also, but what is far more important is that when the boy’s body was brought, there was a police lathi-charge on the family and other people who had gathered,” Pilot said. [caption id=“attachment_10852741” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Congress leader Sachin Pilot. ANI[/caption] “The father and the grandfather sustained injuries. They are still in fear. I have assured them we will provide all security but clearly, there is a sense of fear in the community,” he said. Asked if the police crackdown on the family was a failure of the Rajasthan government, the Congress leader said, “I don’t know what the circumstances could have been. I think the government must take action against the police officers involved. I don’t know why there is a delay.” Pilot earlier said a strong message needs to be given to win the Dalit community’s trust. Pilot, who’d launched a rebellion two years ago to topple Gehlot, said, “Such incidents need to be strongly condemned. We need to put a check on such incidents. Only laws, speeches and actions are not enough. We will have to give them a strong message that we are with them in order to instil trust in them.” “The death of a student due to assault by a teacher in a private school in Jalore is a shocking incident. We have to end these evils prevalent in society,” Pilot had tweeted. “I hope that the government and administration will do justice to the family members as soon as possible, not just doing formality,” Pilot added. “We have to put an end to incidents like Jalore. We have to assure the people of Dalit society that we stand with them,” he added. The Congress leader condemned the politicisation of the issue, calling it inappropriate whether it is done by the BJP or his own party. Slew of Congress councillors resign On Tuesday, 12 councillors in the Baran Municipal Council sent their resignation letters to Gehlot, expressing anguish over atrocities against the Dalits and backing party MLA Pana Chand Meghwal. The Baran-Atru MLA on Monday had sent his resignation letter to Gehlot, two days after the death of a nine-year-old Dalit boy who was allegedly beaten up by his schoolteacher for touching a drinking water pot in Jalore. Ward No.29 councillor Yogendra Mehta said they sent their resignation letters in support of the MLA and against the government’s failure to protect the Dalits. The other councillors who sent their resignation letters are Rohitashva Saxena, Rajaram Meena, Rekha Meena, Leeladhar Nagar, Hariraj Erwal, Piyush Soni, Urvashi Meghwal, Yashwant Yadav, Anwar Ali, Jyoti Jatav and Mayank Mathodia, he said. They will submit copies of their resignation letters to the Kota divisional commissioner on Wednesday, Mehta added. Meanwhile, the nominated councillor of the Kota’s Itawa civic body Suresh Mahawar also sent his resignation letter to the chief minister. Gehlot earlier condemned the incident and said the case will be taken up under the case officer scheme for fast investigation. He also announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the boy from the chief minister’s relief fund on Saturday night. “The death of a student due to assault by a teacher in a private school in the Sayla police station area of Jalore is tragic. The accused teacher has been arrested under sections for the murder and SC/ST Act,” he tweeted. “The case has been taken up under the Case Officer Scheme for speedy investigation of the case and speedy punishment to the guilty. Justice will be ensured to the victim’s family at the earliest. An assistance amount of Rs 5 lakh will be given to the kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund,” he said.   Opposition on the attack The incident has evoked sharp reactions from various political parties, with the BJP demanding action against the owner of the school and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati demanding President’s Rule in Rajasthan. [caption id=“attachment_10269231” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. ANI[/caption] Launching an attack on Gehlot’s government, the BJP called the child’s death shameful. “When will Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra suggest Mr Gehlot to ensure justice for Dalits in Rajasthan,” the state BJP had tweeted. The BJP on Sunday demanded action against the owner of a private school. BJP spokesperson and MLA Ramlal Sharma said recognition of the school should be cancelled so that discipline is maintained. “This is first such incident where a Dalit boy died after he was beaten up by a teacher in private school for touching a drinking water pot. The BJP demands that immediate action should be taken so that such incidents do not reoccur,” Sharma said. “Action against the school owner should also be taken and recognition of the school should be cancelled so that discipline is maintained in schools,” he said. Party’s state president Satish Poonia charged that such incidents happen when the state government and chief minister are weak. “Incidents of Dalit atrocities have happened one after another in the last three-and-a-half years. This happens when the state government, chief minister are weak. The guilty must be punished at the earliest,” Poonia told reporters. “When the country is celebrating 75th year of independence, such an incident forces us to think where we are standing. A society is made up of unity and harmony, and for us society is paramount,” he said. Reacting to the incident, BSP chief Mayawati demanded President’s Rule in Rajasthan and said no amount of condemnation of this painful incident is less. [caption id=“attachment_10906771” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  BSP supremo Mayawati. News18[/caption] Slamming the Ashok Gehlot government, she said, “Such painful casteist incidents happen almost every day in Rajasthan. This incident is a clear example to show that the Congress government has failed in protecting the life and dignity of people, especially the Dalits, tribals and the neglected. Therefore, it would be better if this (current) government (of Rajasthan) is dismissed and President’s Rule imposed.” Latest developments As per NDTV, the FIR registered in the case says Indra was “naive and did not know that the pot had been kept aside for the teacher from the upper caste”. " Teacher Chail Singh told the boy ‘you are from a lower caste. How dare you drink water from my pot!’. He then thrashed him," the FIR says, as per the report. Meanwhile, a purported audio clip of a conversation between the victim’s father and the teacher has gone viral. The father is heard in the clip complaining about the thrashing of the boy while the teacher is heard giving an assurance to him about providing treatment to him and compensation. Another purported video clip shows Devaram Meghwal, the victim’s father, appealing to organisations like Bheem Army to support him. Superintendent of Police of Jalore Harsh Vardhan Agarwalla said the boy was beaten up badly and added that the reason cited for it — touching a drinking water pot — was yet to be investigated. [caption id=“attachment_8857051” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] “We have filed a case against the teacher, Chail Singh, under section 302 of the IPC and the SC/ST Act and have arrested him,” the police officer said. The boy’s father said he suffered injuries on his face and ear and almost became unconscious. The boy was taken to the district hospital, from where he was referred to a hospital in Udaipur. “He remained admitted at the hospital in Udaipur for about a week, but seeing no improvement, we took him to Ahmedabad. But his condition did not improve even there and he finally succumbed on Saturday,” the boy’s father Devaram said. Dotasra announces financial compensation Later, talking to reporters, Dotasra said the state unit of the party will give a financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh to the boy’s family, in addition to Rs 5 lakh announced by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from the CM relief fund. “Our party president Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi have directed the leaders and MLAs to visit the family and do whatever can be done to assist the family,” he said. Dotasra said the matter will be investigated and a speedy trial will be held. He said that the education department has already served a notice to the private school, where the incident occurred, asking why should not the affiliation of the school be terminated. The Congress leader said that the family members had resentment against the local police due to a face-off in the village on Sunday and they have been assured that action against the guilty will be taken. He stated that one police constable was suspended on Tuesday. The victim was cremated on Sunday, amid tension at his village where some “outsiders” hurled stones at police, officials said. Ahead of the boy’s cremation, some “outsiders” tried to intervene while the family and administration were holding talks about compensation and tried to snatch the body but police quickly restored order, they said. Officials said the boy was cremated in his village in the presence of Jalore district magistrate Nishant Jian and Superintendent of Police Harshvardhan Agarwalla. Both the officials also held a meeting with the victim’s family members at their home in the village. “The family has already been provided the cheque of Rs 5 lakh announced by the chief minister. The family is also entitled for another compensation of Rs 8 lakh under SC/ST rules. This amount will also be disbursed to the family next week,” the SP said. Police said some “outsiders” also tried to take control of the negotiations between the family and the administration, forcing the family to agree on a compensation of Rs 50 lakh and a government job to one of the family members. They tried to snatch the body of the victim from the family. During this, they also began pelting stones on the police but were soon controlled and pushed away, police said. Agarwalla, however, said the people involved in this were soon controlled by the police and were pushed away. Adequate deployment of police personnel was done at the boy’s village in order to ward off any untoward incident, officials said. The senior police official said the family was satisfied with the compensation package given by the government and also agreed later for the post-mortem and cremation of the body. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.