Mirchpur dalits meet SC team, refuse to return to village

Dalits from Mirchpur village who have refused to return to their homes after an attack on them by the majority community there today met a Supreme Court- appointed team who are here to look into their demands.
The Mirchpur dalits have been staying at Tanwar Farmhouse here for the last three years after an attack on them in their village in April 2010.
They met Sessions Judge Ajay Jain and Shamim Modi from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, who constitute the SC team, with a charter of demands.
But after the SC team asked them to take the same to District Development and Panchayat Officer Sumit Kumar, they submitted their charter at the Deputy Commissioner's office.

The villagers who have sought for a place for resettlement also requested for good quality tents, daily supply of drinking water and clothes and stationery for their children to go to school.
Among other things, they also demanded power supply, LPG connections and ration cards.

The SC-appointed team had also visited Mirchpur yesterday.
The villagers told the team that under no condition would they return to the village and urged government to take steps to rehabilitate them elsewhere.
The team will submit its report to SC within a month, Modi, meanwhile, said.
The majority community in Mirchpur had torched Balmiki houses in the village on April 21, 2010 in an act which had claimed two lives.