From papa with love

What is the best gift can a person give to his/her
child??

Read this to find what this man gave to his
daughter...

Two hands and a leg amputated. The remaining
limb yet to heal, has turned gangrenous and may
also have to be removed. His kidneys have been
damaged due to excessive bleeding and he can
hardly eat and digest any food

And yet defiance still sparkles in the eyes of Bant Singh, a
Dalit agricultural labour activist, as he lies in the trauma
ward of a state-run hospital in Chandigarh where doctors
are battling to save his only remaining leg and even his
life.

It is precisely for this defiance, coming from a 'lower caste'
Dalit, that Bant Singh from Jhabhar village of Mansa
district in Punjab was beaten to pulp and left for dead by
armed upper caste men around a fortnight ago.

Apart from his activities organizing poor, agricultural
workers Bant Singh's greatest 'sin', in the eyes of his
tormentors, was the long running battle for justice against
the upper caste men who raped his minor daughter five
years ago. The court case he launched, braving both
threats of violence and attempted bribes, resulted in life
sentences for three of the culprits in 2002.

On the evening of January 5, 2006 as Bant Singh returned
home after campaigning for a national agricultural labour
assembly to be held in Andhra Pradesh later during the
month the upper castes wrought their revenge.

Walking through the wheat fields Bant Singh was waylaid
by a gang of seven men, suspected to be sent by Jaswant
and Niranjan Singh, the current and former headmen of his
village. One of them brandished a revolver to prevent any
resistance while the other six set upon him with iron rods
and axes beating him to pulp.

Just after leaving him for dead, the attackers called up
Beant Singh, another former headman from Bant Singh's
village to come and pick up the body. Even this was not the
end of the torment heaped on this 40-year-old father of
eight children and the only earning member in the family.

At the Mansa Civil Hospital where Bant Singh was taken
soon after the attack Purushottam Goel, the doctor who
admitted the patient, demanded a bribe and did not even
care to provide treatment for 36 full hours. Bant Singh was
bandaged only on the 7 th and the next day his attendants
were told that the hospital lacked facilities to treat him and
so he should be removed to some other hospital. By the
time Bant Singh was shifted to the PGI, Chandigarh, it was
too late to save two of his hands and leg.

Even now as he lies in a hospital fighting for survival
influential upper caste families in his village are
threatening all those who are helping him out in his grave
crisis. While there are conflicting reports of the Mansa
police arresting some of the men who attacked him there is
no certainty that they will be ever punished.

Following are the demands that have been raised by Bant
Singh's colleagues and comrades from the agricultural
labour rights and other movements in Punjab demanding
justice for him and his family:

1. The Punjab Government make arrangements for best
possible medical treatment and artificial limbs for Bant
Singh.

2. A high level team of the National Human Rights
Commission visit the patient and his village to ascertain
facts of the case.

3. The culprits as well as Jaswant and Niranjan Singh be
booked under Sec. 307 IPC and Sec. 120B and the SC/ST
Act and immediately be arrested.

4. A compensation of Rupees10,00,000 be granted to the
family and a permanent attendant be provided to Bant
Singh.

5. The wife of Bant Singh be provided with a Government
job.

6. Dr. Purushottam Goel be immediately terminated.

7. An Independent National Commission be set up to
enquire into atrocities on Dalits in Punjab, in particular
those employed as agricultural labour.