Dalits Not Treated As Indians, Deport Us: Una Victim to President

The victim said, “We oppose the CAA but if they want to implement the Act, they should also deport us.”

The Una incident in Gujarat where seven Dalit men were brutally beaten up for skinning a dead cow.

(Photo: ANI screengrab/ Altered by The Quint)

Even as protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) gripped the country, a victim of the Una flogging incident has written a letter to the President of India asking him to deport him and his brothers to another country where they would not face discrimination.

Vashram Sarvaiya, one of the seven members of a Dalit family, who were flogged and paraded on the streets half naked by self-proclaimed gau rakshaks, told The Quint, “ “We oppose the CAA but if they want to implement the Act, they should also deport us to a country where Dalits would be considered equal citizens.”

“We are not considered citizens in India. Dalits are discriminated against in the Hindu community. So we request President Ramnath Kovind to send us to a different country where we won’t face discrimination.”

Vashram Sarvaiya, Victim

"There has been no action taken against those who beat us up in 2016. The perpetrators are out on bail. We were promised agcultural land, plots but none of them have been kept."

He also said, "Anandiben Patel, who was the then CM of Gujarat and is now the Uttar Pradesh governor had visited us in 2016 and had promised jobs. She had said she will visit us again in a month. But neither did she come nor did she give us any jobs."

The Sarvaiyas, who belong to the Dalit community, were assaulted on video, for skinning a dead cow.

The plea, written by Vashram on behalf of his brothers, was sent to Una prant office of the Gir-Somnath district on 7 January.

Vashram had previously written another letter to the President in 2018 seeking permission for mercy killing.

If their plea is not considered this time, Vashram said he and his brothers will immolate themselves outside Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.