New Delhi,

June 27, 2025

Press Release

CPI Delegation Submits Memorandum to NHRC Chairperson, Demands Immediate Action in Cases of Caste Atrocities in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh

The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India issued today (June 27, 2025) the following statement:

A delegation of the Communist Party of India, led by General Secretary D. Raja and comprising National Secretariat members Pallab Sengupta, Rama Krushna Panda, and Annie Raja, met Honourable Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and submitted a detailed memorandum demanding urgent intervention and strict action in two shocking incidents of caste-based violence that have once again exposed the grim and persistent reality of caste oppression in India.

In the representation to the NHRC Chairperson, the CPI expressed deep outrage over the recent incident in Dharakote block of Ganjam district in Odisha, where two Dalit men were brutally beaten, forcibly tonsured, made to eat grass, and compelled to drink drain water—an appalling act of inhuman caste humiliation. In an equally disturbing incident in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, two OBC men were tonsured, assaulted, and subjected to having urine sprinkled on them by members of dominant castes. The Party stated that these heinous crimes, though occurring in different states and affecting different oppressed social groups, reflect the same entrenched and dehumanising caste order that continues to degrade and brutalise vast sections of Indian society.

The memorandum pointed to the alarming figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which recorded 57,571 cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes in 2022 alone. This growing trend highlights not just individual cases of violence but a systemic and structural failure in upholding constitutional guarantees of equality and dignity. Despite legal safeguards under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the ground reality remains dismal due to weak enforcement, institutional apathy, and political silence.

The CPI demanded that the NHRC should ensure strict and time-bound action against the culprits, recommend exemplary punishment, and push for full protection and rehabilitation of the victims. The Party also urged the Commission to call upon state governments to implement concrete preventive, punitive, and sensitisation measures in full adherence to constitutional morality and the NHRC’s own mandate. In turn, NHRC Chairperson Justice V. Ramasubramanian assured the CPI delegation that urgent remedial action will be taken by the Commission.

The CPI reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the fight for social justice, equality, and human dignity and cautions that justice delayed or diluted in such cases not only fails the victims but undermines the very foundations of India’s constitutional democracy.

Sd/-

(Roykutty)

Office Secretary

Communist Party of India

Central Office 

New Delhi

Tele: 011 23235546

e-mail: cpiofindia@gmail.com