http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may92007/district22431200758.asp
Govt urged to re-investigate Kambalapalli incident DH News Service, Gulbarga: The CPM State Secretariat has urged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to convene a meeting of dalit organisations and the CPM to discuss the issue of ordering re-investigations into the Kambalapalli dalit massacre incident. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) has urged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to convene a meeting of dalit organisations and the CPM to discuss the issue of ordering re-investigations into the Kambalapalli dalit massacre incident. The CPM State Secretariat has written a letter regarding this to Mr Kumaraswamy on Monday, May 7. Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, CPM State Secretariat member Maruthi Manpade said, the chief minister has been urged to convene this meeting immediately. Mr Manpade said, the State government holds meetings with different organisations, to discuss different issues. However, even though the Kambalapalli dalits massacre case was a serious issue as all the accused had been acquitted by the court, still the government had not taken this seriously. He said, seven dalits were burnt alive at Kambalapalli, allegedly by those belonging to the upper castes. However, all the accused in the case were acquitted. Even though many dalit organisations were demanding a re-trail in the case, still this had not been considered by the Government. Special package He also pointed out that, after the massacre, the Government had announced a special package for the nearly 60 affected dalit families at Kambalapalli. Demanding the Government to implement this, the members of the CPM had even taken out a 'padayatra' from Kambalapalli to Bangalore demanding the implementation of the special package. He said, on April 23, at the conclusion of the 'padayatra', a memorandum of demands was submitted to the government, which was received by Industries Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu. Mr Naidu had assured that a meeting of the dalit organisations and the CPM would be convened by the chief minister, wherein all the issues relating to Kambalapalli would be discussed. "However, so far the chief minister had not called this meeting, or had implemented the special package," he said. Moreover, Mr Manpade stated that the people, especially the dalits and the downtrodden, had lost faith in the judicial system as all the accused in the Kambalapalli massacre case had been acquitted. He demanded that the Government immediately order for a re-investigation and a re-trial into the case, which would instill some confidence among the dalits. He pointed out the increasing incidents of atrocities and attacks against the dalits had created a fear psychosis among them in the State. He urged the Government to initiate such measures which would create confidence in them, he added. Round-table meeting Nevertheless, Mr Manpade stated that different organisations had come forward to hold a round-table meeting in Bangalore on May 13, to discuss the issues facing the dalits. He said, the Centre had directed all the States to earmark 22 per cent of their respective annual budgets for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes (SC/ST). This should be implemented. He stated that even though the Government had released nearly Rs 4,100 crore under the special component plan (SCP), still this had not been utilised, he charged. All these issues would be discussed at the round-table conference, he added.
