Click to play videoMumbai: It took 45 days, violent protests, lathicharge, stone pelting, and curfew to get the Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh come out of his hibernation.
The Chief Minister has finally visited Khairlanji village and met Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the only surviving member of the Dalit family which was slaughtered by the members of the upper caste.
When the cries from Khairlanji finally reached Mumbai, the Maharashtra Chief Minister was forced to pay a visit to the region and announce the compensation. "The survivors will get a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs," says Deshmukh.
But the very fact that it took him 45 days to act proved that the Chief Minister now wants to draw political mileage from the incident, but the people are not willing to give up their fight till justice is imparted to the Dalit family.
Life came to a standstill in Nagpur on Friday as Dalit organisations had called for a bandh following the Deshmukh's visit.
The compensation pill was hard for the protestors to swallow, and the Dalit community believes that the Cheif Minister's visit was politically motivated.
"The Chief Minister should have come here earlier," says a villager. There are others who believe: "Money can't compensate for the loss of life."
With the realisation that Dalit killings in Vidarbha are going to become a major political issue in the upcoming local self-government elections, the Congress NCP government has announced a compensation.
But with the recent storming of mantralaya and Friday's Nagpur bandh, it's clear that the controversy refuses to die down and government needs to do much more than just announce a package.
(With Piyush Pushpak in Nagpur)
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