The village of Shel-Melauli has returned to the news again, for a different reason, yet related to the protests against the siting of the Indian Institute of Technology that took a rough turn in January this year. It was after there was a violent skirmish between the people and the police, that the latter arrested two persons and filed first information reports against 23 other for the assault under various sections, including attempt to murder. At that time, when the cases of attempt to murder against the villagers and activists had been filed, Herald had said it was uncalled for. This is a democracy and the people have the right to protest. The government listened to the people are decided to shift the site of the IIT.
To recap, here’s what had occurred in Shel-Melauli on January 6, when a tussle had broken out between the protestors of the proposed (now scrapped) IIT site and the police. Several police personnel had been injured, some seriously attacked in the melee, that followed after an uneasy calm in the village during the previous days. Later, when a group of those named in the first information report had sought that the cases against them be quashed, the Goa government had informed the High Court of Bombay at Goa that could not be done as the accused had used deadly weapons to attack the police personnel on duty. Moreover, it said that if the High Court finds merit it can order removal of any name of any accused from the FIR.
What has brought the issue back into focus is the academic excellence of Pooja Melekar, a student from the village, who topped the Goa University BSc course in Analytical Chemistry. The topper, however, has a proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over her head as she is one of those against whom a case of attempt to murder has been registered. Following news of her result reaching out, politicians, Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat among them, have come out in her support, urging Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to withdraw the cases filed against her and others. This is not a new request, but one that has been made before, with no positive response from the government.
It is time to close the chapter on the Shel-Melauli incident. The Indian Institute of Technology has been shifted from there, the villagers have gone back to their quotidian, but the cases will not allow them to forget what occurred there earlier this year. If, as pointed out by the government that the cases cannot be withdrawn, the sections that had been added to the cases can still be diluted. Attempt to murder is a serious offence and can mar the future of the youth who have been named in the case. They have their entire life ahead of them. The government should consider at least this so that young students can plan their life ahead of them. Their future is important, and one mistake should not scar them for life.
The people of Shel-Melauli were fighting to save their agricultural land, and never expected to have criminal cases registered against them. This week the villagers of Shel-Melauli planted medicinal plants in the area that had been earmarked for the institute. They are showing their love for the land and giving new life to it, and they too should be given new life. In the early stages of the protests the government had been obstinately refusing to heed to the demands, but finally relented. It should not display the same adamant stance at this point of time by refusing to look into the matter of withdrawing the cases. After all, this involves the future of some youth.
