Bathoni Tola massacre- Miscarriage of Justice

There is an urgent need to sensitize the public on issues relating to underprivileged sections of society, and to insist that the media need to accord more priority to coverage of the grave violations of the basic rights of Dalits. The continued prevalence of atrocities against Dalits and the ways in which the Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (1989) are routinely subverted deserve attention of the media. The response of the governments and the media has remained the same in all these atrocities; of outrage, and then forgetting the issue until the next atrocity occurs. Precisely for this reason, this verdict should wake up the national media, make them reflect, and act, to put an immediate end to caste based atrocities. The Judiciary entrusted with the dispensation of Justice has acted as the stooge of the dominant caste groups and failed to the hopes of the common man, as a custodian of human rights. The denial of victim’s Right to Justice, by the approach adopted by the government and prosecuting agencies facilitating the culprit to kill innocent Dalits get away with impunity and sadly the judicial decision in question is nothing but a betrayal of Dalits.

The verdict aquitting 23 persons in the gruesome Bathani Tola massacre left everyone with a sensitive mind shocked and dismayed. Needless to say, this judgement is a blatant miscarriage of justice as mass murderers are acquitted to escape punishment for their inhuman crimes. Moreover, the failure to punish the murderers, would not only subject to ridicule the judiciary but would render it far more difficult to deter similar mass killings in the future. This criminal trial failed to provide justice because it tended to focus on individuals and single acts instead of the broader role of institutional casteist forces. In treating the massacre as a purely criminal act, it actually masks caste realities. Justice and fairness of treatment for the victims belonging to the socially disadvantaged is practically non-existent in India. In denying justice, very sound and cogent reasons and arguments couched in ceremonial legalese are advanced on behalf of the aggressors. The verdict raises serious questions as to which need to be enquired with urgency, as the same can have far reaching consequences on the credibility of the entire justice delivery system, which prides itself of maintaining high standards of independence and utmost fairness. In a case which so speaks for itself, the stupor with which the entire system has worked is unpardonable, and the way accused have been allowed to go away scot free with impunity, has added insult to injury to the Dalits, already suffering social discrimination.  Indeed much has been said already about the delays associated with our criminal justice system, but sixteen years is too long a time, especially when all that is secured to the people is a grossly miscarriage of justice. The lack of potency, the successive governments and investigating agencies have projected in the prosecution of the accused and in failure to secure extradition of the accused, raises serious queries as to the how miniscule and insignificant the cost of Dalit lives becomes, when pitted against feudalism.

If the Government of Bihar expects Dalits to repose faith in Judiciary, it must do some soul searching on the mass acquittal of the Bathani Tola massacre case.  The massacre was a stigma on civil society and rarest of rare cases of brutality. The massacres at Khairlanji, Keelvenmani, and Bathani Tola stand out prominently in the minds of Dalits all over the nation as the sanguinary examples of Casteism. Blaming the lack of evidence – which is primarily the failure of the prosecution -is unlikely to assuage the sentiments of the victims. A fair verdict in this case alone will help wipe away the stigma of upper-caste bias which shadows India’s judiciary.