What happened at Mota Samadhiyala village of Gir-Somnath district was ghastly and barbaric, Makwana said.
What happened at Mota Samadhiyala village of Gir-Somnath district was ghastly and barbaric, Makwana said.
Ahmedabad: As a mark of protest against the thrashing of Dalit youths at Una, Dalit writer Amrutlal Makwana on Thursday returned an award given by the Gujarat government.
The 44-year-old writer had received the Dasi Jeevan Shreshth Dalit Sahitya Kruti Award for 2012-13 for his work -"Kharapat Nu Dalit Lok Sahitya-". Makwana returned the award, including Rs 25,000 cash, at Ahmedabad District Collector's office.
-"I have also given a short letter to the authorities saying that I am returning this award out of grief and pain due to the treatment meted out to Dalit youths in Una,-" he said. The letter is addressed to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
Makwana, a resident of Wadhwan town of Surendranagar district, further said, -"Such incidents are occurring in Gujarat on a regular basis but the government is not doing enough to ensure that Dalits get justice.
-"What happened at Mota Samadhiyala village of Gir-Somnathdistrict was ghastly and barbaric. Such atrocities on Dalits are condemnable and it shook me to the core. Sadly, such incidents are happening around us regularly,-" he said.
On July 11, some Dalit youths from Mota Samadhiyala who were skinning a dead cow were flogged by cow vigilantes, alleging that they had killed the cow. After a video of the incident went viral, it sparked off violent protests across Gujarat.
