Coalition government invites wrath on Kambalapalli incident

Bangalore, May 13 (UNI) The JD(S)-BJP coalition government in Karnataka draws flak for not taking seriously the issue of Kambalapalli killing incident in which seven Dalits were burnt alive and the trail court acquitting all the accused in the incident.

Various Dalit leaders participating in the CPI(M) sponsored State level 'Round Table Conference' on the issue of acquittal of all the accused in the 2000 Kambalapalli incident in which houses belonging to Dalit community were torched and seven of them were burnt alive accused the state government for soft-peddling on the issue of re-opening of the case and justice delivered.

CPI(M) State Secretary G N Nagaraj speaking on the occasion condemned the state government for not showing any interest in re-opening the case for rendering justice to the victims and punish the guilty.

Mr Nagaraj alleged that prosecution witnesses have turned hostile during the trial facing backlash from the vested interests who were behind the most inhuman incident in the history of the State.

Demanding the state government to take initiative and appeal to High Court on the verdict of the trial court on the line of Best Bakery and Jassicalal murder case. Mr Nagaraj alleged that while several prosecution witnesses were turned hostile many government witnesses did not turned up for the trial despite several notices were served.

Several Dalit leaders including Indudhar, Rajshekhar and Congress member in the Karnataka Legislative Council L Hanumanthaiah also spoke on the occasion and felt the need for launching a state-wide agitation to create awareness among the Dalits against the injustice done.

CPI(M)'s State Secretariat member Maruthi Manpade, who also addressed the gathering, urged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to immediately convene a meeting of all the Dalit organisations and take measures to render justice to the victims.

He said that if state government failed to take initiative, the people may lose faith on the judiciary, he cautioned.

UNI