Una Dalits Protesting Against Cow Vigilantism Incident Attacked

Of the 20 men in the group, eight were severely injured while returning from protest rally against he Una incident.

At least eight Dalits were severely injured when a mob allegedly attacked them and 12 of their community members at Samter village near Una, Gujarat on Monday.

The members alleging assault were returning from a protest rally in Una town of Gir Somnath district at around 5 pm.

While they claim that the police force did hardly anything to help them, teargas shells were lobbed and mild lathi charge was used to disperse the crowd.

The victims also claimed that the attackers were residents of Samter village, who wanted to “avenge” the arrest of 12 persons in connection with last month’s Una Dalit flogging case.

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The group of 20 was returning home after hoisting of a tricolour by Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula who had committed suicide in Hyderabad, and Balu Sarvaiya, father of one of the victims of Una Dalit flogging incident, in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

Out of the 30-odd persons arrested till date in the Una Dalit thrashing case, 12 persons belong to Samter, which is 11 km from Una. Around 200 Dalits, including me, had come to Una on our bikes to attend the rally. When we were returning, Samter residents blocked the road and thrashed us mercilessly.

Mavjibhai Sarvaiya, Victim

Sarvaiya alleged that police did not help them during the time of the attack which he claims was pre-planned as alternate roads were also blocked.