YET another acquittal. Yet another denial of justice. In the recent past, it was Bathani Thola, then Laxmanpur Bathe and now it is Chundur. Similar pattern. Similar excuses. Similar role of the governments, investigation authorities, police machinery... lack of credible evidence, doubts on the witness accounts... Chundur village in the Tenali mandal of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh woke up to a horror day on August 6, 1991. Dalits were attacked and murdered in the most gruesome manner. Hundreds of upper caste people chased and hacked to death eight dalits. Their bodies were stuffed into gunny bags and thrown into the nearby Tungabhadra canal. The Chundur incident happened because the upper castes could not tolerate the fledgling democratic aspirations among the dalits. It is a result of the upper caste violence in response to the challenges by the dalits to their established privileges. It was an attack meant to reinforce caste discrimination and caste hierarchy. After a consistent struggle, the then state government agreed to set up a Special Court in Chundur itself to try the case. Many efforts were made by the accused to get this court shifted out of Chundur. But the pressure of the democratic movements helped in seeing that this did not happen. This court was the first-ever Special Court set up in the country for trying the case under the SC/STs Prevention of (Atrocities) Act 1989. It tried the case for 16 long years and then in August 2007 delivered a judgement awarding punishment to the 56 accused, after acquitting many who were charge-sheeted, citing lack of evidence. The accused approached the High Court against the trial court's verdict. The Andhra Pradesh High Court, on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 has acquitted all the 56 accused who were sentenced by the trial court. The Division Bench of the High Court acquitting the convicts said that the prosecution had failed to prove the exact time and place of the death of the victims and the identity of the persons who had attacked them. It said that the evidence lacked credibility. The Bench also found that though eight persons were said to have been killed on the same day, the dead bodies were recovered after over three days. It also said that no complaint of attack or murder on Harijans was received by the Chundur police or any nearby police station. Reality is eight dead bodies were fished out of the irrigation canals and the drains of Chundur and surrounding villages after over three days of the gruesome assault. The truth is they were killed, brutally murdered. Who is to be held responsible for this? Why didn't the police act faster? Shouldn't they be punished for this lapse? It is really sad for the court to comment that there was no complaint recorded. Isn’t it a fact that in many places, across the country, getting a complaint, FIR recorded for a crime, in itself is a big task? Haven’t courts across the country commented upon this and passed many a directions and orders forcing the police to record FIRs? Reading such orders, democratic movement thought that, thanks to their struggles, now at least the poor and downtrodden have got an opportunity to ‘register’ the oppression committed upon them. The AP High Court with this single comment negated all these struggles and moreover put the onus and getting the complaint registered on the victims, often who are ‘powerless’ in the society. One wonders if justice can be denied just because there is no complaint recorded! One wonders, what is it all about taking suo moto cognisance of events, which the court many times does. Doesn’t an incident like the murder of eight dalits, poor agricultural labourers, merit the court’s attention, even if there was no complaint lodged? Knowing very well the difficulties faced by dalits in getting the police record a complaint, one always thought, courts are more sensitive! The distance between hand and mouth is really far indeed! The present court acquittal once again shows the failure of the government and the investigating agencies to ensure proper prosecution. The government has failed to ensure justice for the dalits. Even the laws that were made to protect dalits were not put to use properly. There is a huge gap between what the government says and what it does. Notwithstanding all the great speeches and Acts, the government has the worst record in ensuring justice to its most marginalised citizens. And amazingly, except the CPI(M), no major political party had commented upon this judgement, particularly when the leaders of such parties always want themselves to be seen and heard through the media. This in itself shows their concern for the dalits. With elections round the corner in the state, are they afraid of losing something if they comment on the judgement – the support of their core constituency consisting of landlords and upper castes? Caught they are all wearing ‘emperors new clothes’. This judgement is once again a wake-up call for all of us. That the struggle against caste discrimination, exploitation and oppression is not easy is once again proven. Social justice is not won easily and demands a sustained fight. Given the reaction or none of it from the ruling class political parties, even during elections, one can only understand which party stands for what. Elections are also an opportunity for us all to express ourselves against these kinds of injustices. Let us unite and strive to see that justice is not elusive, for the oppressed.