Jaipur:
Jai Ram, age 35, is a local hero in his Dabla village in north Rajasthan, a 140 km drive from Jaipur. His recognition is well-earned. In his small house, his medal -the Vir Chakra- earned for service to the nation as a jawan of the Rajputana Rifles in the Kargil War sits on his prayer platform.
But in this village of Dabla, where his valour is legendary, he is now a wanted man with six police cases against him, accusing him of violence and damaging public property.
On August 31 this year, Jai Ram quit the army. He has a wife and two young children, and an old mother to support, but he decided that he wanted to help the village fight a mining mafia whose size and aggression were both scaling up.
"Today there is no war on our border. I defended my Nation then so now it's my duty to fight the enemy within, to fight against corruption and to help the common man in my village," says Jai Ram.
This part of Rajasthan, near the Haryana border, is rich in gravel stones. The nearest mines are just a five minutes walk away. In violation of all licenses and laws, the mines had encroached so far into the village that many huts had cracked walls, the result of blasts used in the stone quarries.
The homes that bore the brunt of the violations had been funded by a government scheme to provide housing for the poor.
The mining mafia also carved out a road in the middle of the village's pasture. Heavy trucks began passing through. The health and safety of villagers and their cattle was being jeopardized.
Jai Ram mobilized the village, and led them to court a year ago. Last month, the Rajasthan High Court made Dabla's pasture-land and the road within off-limits to mining companies. It also ordered the Rajasthan Pollution Control board to monitor the blasting and mining operations in the village which were disturbing people and damaging their homes.
Jai Ram began his campaign to protect his village in April 2011 with a massive
dharna. On April 19, he reorganized villagers for a sit-in protest. The police forcibly lifted the sit-in by villagers including women. The women regrouped the next day with another
dharna. The police forcibly detained 20 women for agitating.
From May 21, the police began filing cases against Dabla villagers for protesting against mining.
"On May 4, 2011, I went to meet chief minister Ashok Gehlot. On that day the police filed an FIR against me in Dabla saying that I was throwing stones and agitating," a villager, named only as Sunil, said.
So far six cases have been filed against Jai Ram alone. He has been charged with shearing electricity lines and beating up the workers in nearby mines.
Social activists in Rajasthan have begun rallying around him. They have written to the state government, asking for the cases filed by the Dabla police to be investigated for ulterior motives.
People's Union for Civil Liberties activist Kavita Srivastava says, "After the High Court judgment against illegal mining in Dabla village, which upholds the villagers' contentions, the Rajasthan Police should take back all false cases against people in Dabla and the state government should apologize."
Divisional Commissioner Madhukar Gupta says, "Cases and counter-cases in such an agitation are common." However, he said if anyone is being illegally detained, the administration will examine the cases.