Khairlanji killings, RSS HQ attack rocked Vidarbha in 2006

Nagpur, Jan 1 (UNI) The killing of four members of a Dalit family by villagers in Khairlanji in Bhandara district, the widespread violence in its wake, the foiled attack by terrorists on the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur, and the large number of suicides by farmers rocked Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the year 2006.

A mob of villagers lynched Surekha Bhotmange (45), daughter Priyanka (18) and sons Roshan (23) and Sudhir (21) to death in Khairlanji late on the night of September 29 over a land dispute.

The head of the family, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, escaped the mob fury.

The shameful incident shook Vidarbha, indeed, the entire country, and was described as a blot on humanity itself.

Tragically, the killings took place barely days before the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism. Dr Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in Nagpur on October 14, 1956, which happened to be a Dussera. The historic event is, therefore, traditionally commemorated annually on Dussera, which happened to be on October 2 this year.

Dalit organisations staged protests against the Khairlanji killings at several places in Vidarbha. Violence broke out in Nagpur on November 6, with a mob ransacking a police chowky, torching a police vehicle and several private vehicles. The violence spread to other places in the region also, including Kamptee town, about 15 kilometres from Nagpur, Bhandara, Yavatmal and Amravati.

Curfew had to be imposed for a while in Kamptee and Yavatmal after the violence. Police had to resort to firing in Amravati to control a mob that went on a rampage in and around the district collector's office there. Dinesh Wankhede was injured in the firing and succumbed to his wounds during treatment in Nagpur.

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