Gujarat Dalit activist Bhanu Vankar set himself on fire outside the collector’s office in Patan Gujarat Dalit activist Bhanu Vankar set himself on fire outside the collector’s office in Patan A day after Dalit activist Bhanu Vankar was cremated in Unjha— Hema Vankar and Rama Chamar, the two farmers from Dudhka village in Patan district for whose land rights Vankar set himself ablaze — were given possession of the land they were fighting for. “The officials from the revenue department came to our village with the papers on Monday night around 9 pm. But we wanted Induben (Vankar’s widow) to hand us the papers as her husband died fighting for our cause,” Chamar told The Indian Express over the phone. “Our names are written on the paper and now we are the owners of the land. It will take a month to finish other formalities. While we are happy about getting the land that we were fighting for over three years, we do feel bad because Bhanu bhai had to sacrifice his life for us,” added Chamar. ExpressEditorial | New Dalit movements see landlessness in the context of the caste question. The state must address the issue The paper was handed over to the farmers on Tuesday morning outside Vankar residence in Unjha. On February 15, Vankar (61) set himself ablaze outside the Patan collector office, demanding 18 acres of land for Hema and Rama. Both of them had possession of their land as per the laws of the government in 1955, but the ownership title was not theirs. Vankar, a member of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch (RDAM), had taken up the task of fighting for Hema and Rama’s cause, along with other similar cases he was working on in Patan district. Read | Gujarat Dalit activist’s death: Funeral held after govt gives assurance of land allotment “The two of them have been given the possession. They are now legal occupants of the land. The government will deliver whatever has been agreed upon,” said Pankaj Kumar, additional chief secretary, revenue department. Vankar’s family and members of the Dalit community refused to take his body for two days till a set of their demands were met. After numerous rounds of negotiations for three days, government officials agreed to their demands in a written statement on February 18. “Land distribution in all the zilas of the state will start in cases where farmer’s whose names are on paper and have not got it as yet…in the case of Dudhka village for which Bhanubhai was fighting, will be given to Hema Vankar and Rama Chamar in their name as descendants as a special case…There will be discussions about giving Bhanubhai an award and making his statue in Unjha. The state government will withdraw all cases on the members of Dalit community involved in the protest post the death of Bhanubhai,” reads the letter, signed by Gandhinagar District Collector Satish Patel and Superintendent of Police Virendra Yadav. For all the latest Ahmedabad News, download Indian Express App

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