Ahmedabad, Aug. 10: Four years after a Dalit youth was burnt alive in his village near Una in Gujarat by members of the dominant community, the 27-year-old's family today decided to go on a fast unto death from August 12 "to be heard".
Piyush Sarvaiya, younger brother of Lalji who was burnt alive in September 2012, told The Telegraph all 14 members of the family would be part of the protest. The elders will fast while six children, aged between 2 and 11 years, will keep them company at the foot of the Ambedkar statue in Una - the town infamous for the flogging of four Dalits last month by cow vigilantes.
On the day Lalji was killed, his family who were the only Dalit family in the village dominated by Koli Patels fled to Una where they have been living in rented accommodation and doing odd jobs. They left behind 15 bighas of land, their house and a cycle repair shop in Ankolali.
The youth, who worked as a truck cleaner in Una town, had been asleep at home on the morning of September 13, 2012. His father was having tea while his mother was making breakfast. A mob of around 500 descended on the house, carrying sticks and petrol and kerosene, which they poured on the sleeping youth before setting him ablaze. He was burnt beyond recognition. The wife of Lalji's brother, who saw the horrific killing, died of shock within 10 days.
The Koli Patels - a powerful OBC community in Gujarat, different from Patidars - suspected that Lalji, who had recently divorced his wife, was behind the disappearance of a 19-year-old girl from the village. The girl, then missing for two days, surfaced in neighbouring Bhavnagar district three days later. She told the sessions court in Una that she did not "even know" Lalji.
Eleven accused, including four members of the girl's family, are behind bars awaiting trial. There were 21 more people the family had identified but Piyush, Lalji's brother, said police told them the case would get diluted if the number of accused was more than 11.
Under provisions of the Atrocity Act, the state declared the family "internally displaced and migrant" and allotted them land in Bhelwada village, 3km from Una on the road to Diu, after they surrendered the 15 bighas that they owned and cultivated in Ankolali. But, Piyush said, the allotment remains only on paper. "We are yet to get possession, even though we have surrendered our land in Ankolali," he said.
One reason was that villagers have adopted a resolution saying they will not allow a Dalit family to settle and cultivate the government land, Piyush said.
Tired of running from pillar to post for the land, the father and son went to Gandhinagar on June 22 and conveyed to then chief minister Anandiben Patel in writing that they would immolate themselves on June 24. Soon after, Piyush, 24, and his father Kala, 65 were arrested and sent to Junagadh jail. They were released 18 days later on July 11, the day the four Dalits were flogged by cow vigilantes, triggering outrage across the country and protests that have emboldened the family to fight for their rights.
The Sarvaiya family will be joined by local Dalits when they start their fast on Friday, bringing back the spotlight on Una town, the symbol of Dalit upheaval that unseated chief minister Anandiben Patel.
