Sikalgars sharpen their tools; on warpath against Govt

Living in wretched conditions in slums beside a dirty, stinking gutter in the Subji Mandi area of Wardha close to the railway station, the Sikalgars shudder to recall the horrors of that fateful day when in a flash their world crashed around them because of the rampaging fury of the mob.

Reflecting on the dreadful event, the seniormost person of the Sikalgar tribe, Saran Singh Sikalgar says the day after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the small locality of Sikalgarsfound themselves surrounded by a mob with weapons in hand, seething with anger.

The mob asked the Sikalgars to take down the flag atop a nearby Gurudwara. With no alternative left, the Sikalgars thought it prudent to bring down the flag to pacify the mob.

The crowd, however, was in no mood to relent. The rampaging mob first looted their houses and then set their property ablaze. “We lost not just our accommodation, but all our belongings as well. In one mad moment of frenzy, we became paupers.

Some of the community members ran as far away as they could to avoid the mob’s wrath, while others put themselves at the mercy of the policemen,” says Saran Sikalgar.

Instead of booking the culprits and providing protection to the Sikalgars, the policemen later allegedly framed many community members for rioting! Later when released, most of the tribesmen disbursed to different parts of the State, Talegaon, Badnera, Amravati, Hinghanghat etc. Some even came to stay in Nagpur on invitation from Sikh leaders.They were provided food and clothes by the local Sikhs even as they constructed temporary sheds for living.

Two years after the Wardha carnage, around 15 Sikalgar families regrouped and came back to Wardha. Since all their belongings had been destroyed, they procured papers of their lost property from the Wardha municipal corporation, and demanded compensation.

The three acres of land the nomadic tribe of Sikalgars had built their houses on at Arvi Naka, had been allotted to them by the Wardha Municipal Corporation 25 years ago on the recommendation of Manikrao Sabane, president of Wardha Municipal Corporation.

After much running around from pillar to post, the SDO, Hinghanghat agreed to allot them Rs 2,250 each as compensation, as they refused to accept alternate plots at Hinghanghat, saying its “unfit for living”.

The Hinganghat SDO gave the Sikalgars a written assurance that the issue would be settled at a later stage.

However, even 14 years after the incident the issue hangs fire with nosolution in sight yet.