Caste discrimination: SC Commission summons police officers

The Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes today took strong exception to incidents of caste discrimination in two villages and directed the police chiefs of Batala and Khanna to appear before it on June 9 with detailed reports.
According to media reports, villagers belonging to SC community were allegedly barred from using a crematorium in Batala's Sakhowal village, and in Gosal village of Khanna people belonging to the community was "excommunicated" by the upper castes.
A Commission spokesperson said in village Sakhowal, SCs have been barred by a group of upper castes from using the village crematorium for performing last rites of their dead.

The SCs of the village are forced to take the bodies to the adjoining village's crematorium for last rites.
In Gosal village of Khanna, SCs were "excommunicated" and forced to bite the dust just to subdue them to surrender their right in the village common land.
The spokesperson said tension prevailed in the village over auction of community land.
Irked by the claim of SCs over village common land, the upper castes had given a call to the natives of village through a speaker of Gurdwara not to have any kind of social ties with the SCs, besides maintaining 'excommunication' and boycott the community.

In a press statement, State SC Commission Chairman Rajesh Bagha described the incidents as "unfortunate and unconstitutional". He said these kind of undignified acts, which result in the ruptures in the social fabric of the state, could not be tolerated.