Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Does Government desire many more 'Shahids' before we will get our due benefits, asks any Gowari community
By Dheeraj Fartode
Sanjay Ramkrishna Raut (33) along with his wife and one-year-old daughter Himani were among those thousands of Gowaris who paid tributes at Shahid Gowari Smarak on Sunday. However, Sanjay stood out the crowd as he would constantly touch the plaque continuing his mother's name and thereafter place the palm on daughter's head. The sight was very touching and atmosphere was laden with emotions.
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| Poignant Moment: Gowaris standstill at Shahid Smark at Zero Mile, reflecting on what they lost and what they ought to have got and actually they received during last two decades! |
Sanjay is coming to the memorial since last 19 years from his 140 km long village Nimgaon in Gondia district without fail. Today he was came with his daughter, a new member of his family, to seek blessings of his mother. Yes, Sanjay’s mother-- Vimal Ramkrishna Raut -- was among the 114 Gowari martyrs. Sanjay was just 13-year-old, a student of standard VIII when the stampede separated him from his mother. Now 33-years-old Sanjay is working as daily wage worker, and has lost all hopes of justice. “My mother lost her life for the cause and her sacrifice and those of other community members have gone waste. The injustice against community continues, said Sanjay who is bitter about the Government.
His mother was 33-year-old when she lost her life in the stampede at Gowari morcha on this day in year 1993. Government gave Rs 2 lakh compensation to the family and a Government job was also promised to next of kin of victims. However, not a single person has got the promised jobs, Sanjay said with bitterness.
Marotrao Waghaye, activist of Gowari Adivasi Arakshan Samiti said that they are still agitating for their demands since 30-years. The community is facing tremendous problems. They are poor, they cannot bear heavy expenditure of education. Most of youths study till HSC and thereafter discontinue education as higher education is beyond their means. In the last 20-years after the sacrifice of 114 martyrs, justice has not only got delayed but now it seems it is going to permanently denied, he opined.
He further said that the community dispersed in the fractions after the stampede. Everyone wants to pose himself as a leader and groupism gets momentum. Today 47 organisations claim to represent Gowari but this instead of helping has only divided us and Government is exploiting the same situation.
Nirmala Kohale, a resident of city, also a regular visitor at memorial and active member of the community, said that the Government has not given their right due to which the community continue to suffer. “Why the government is not keen to give us status of tribal?” Our maximum relatives are still living in 19th century and many of them resides in forests. They have no television at home and electronic equipments as they do not have even that much means at their disposal and hence they are disconnected from real world.
Ramesh Neware, District Secretary of Gowari organisation at Wardha said that educated youth of community are unemployed and what is this if not injustice?
Sachin Yesansure, a 23-year-old youth form Sadak-Arjuni village of Gondia district, is a classic example of injustice. Sachin studied upto D.Ed after HSc and is doing clerical job in a co-operative society for a meager salary of Rs 4,000 per month. “I am depressed about Government’s approach towards our community. We have given our 114 relatives for seeking our right. Does Government wants many more heads and then only wake-up to reality and uplift us,” he asked angrily.
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