Violent Gujarat, Over Dalit Men Being Beaten By 'Cow Protectors'
Seven young Dalit men attempted suicide in Gujarat and buses were set on fire on Monday in a wave of protests against the thrashing of four Dalit men last week over allegations of cow killing in Una, around 360 km from Ahmedabad.
The seven men allegedly took poison in separate protest rallies by Dalit groups, which was raised aggressively in Parliament by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati and also led to an adjournment in the Rajya Sabha.
Two state transport buses were burnt in Rajkot and another was torched in Jamnagar. The protests have spread across the Saurashtra region that includes seven big cities of Gujarat. For hours yesterday, a group of protesters blocked a national highway that connects Rajkot and Porbandar.
Dalits unloaded a truckload of carcass of cows in front of the collector's office in Surendranagar district on Monday to protest against the thrashing of Dalits in Mota Samadhiyala village of Gir Somnath district on July 11.
In seven other separate incidents, Dalit youths-Rajesh Parmar, Ramesh Pardhi, Jagdish Rathod, Bharat Solanki and Anil Maghad in Gondal town and Kishor Solanki and Amrit Parmar in Jamkandorna tried to end their lives by drinking poison.
