Eleven years after six people — five of them Dalit — were killed in a land dispute in Dangawas village, Nagaur district, Rajasthan, a special SC-ST court has acquitted all accused, citing benefit of the doubt. Congress leader and party general secretary Sachin Pilot has now squarely put the burden on the BJP state government, demanding it pursue every available legal remedy rather than let the verdict stand as the final word.

What the Dangawas verdict means for Dalit justice in Rajasthan

The 2015 Dangawas incident was no minor dispute. A clash over land left six dead, with five victims belonging to Scheduled Caste communities — precisely the population the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was designed to protect. The case moved through over a decade of investigation and trial, only to end with all accused walking free. Pilot's pointed question cuts to the core: how does a case of this magnitude collapse entirely at the bar?

In his post, Pilot wrote — 'सबसे बड़ा सवाल यही है कि इतनी बड़ी वारदात का सच आखिर सामने क्यों नहीं आ सका' ('the biggest question is why the truth behind such a large incident could not come out'). He did not stop at criticism. He called on the government to examine exactly where the investigation and prosecution fell short, and to ensure the affected families receive justice.

Pilot's case against the BJP: both the crime and the verdict happened on your watch

The political framing Pilot chose is deliberate and precise. The 2015 violence occurred under a previous BJP government in Rajasthan led by Vasundhara Raje. The acquittal verdict has now arrived under the current BJP administration. Pilot argues that double ownership — of the original failure in law enforcement and of the prosecution's collapse in court — makes the ruling party doubly responsible for what comes next.

He urged the government not to treat this as a closed matter. The state, he said, must explore all possible legal steps, including an appeal before a higher court, and must audit the lapses at both the investigation and prosecution stages that allowed this outcome.

A pattern Rajasthan has seen before

Dangawas is not an isolated case. Rajasthan has a documented history of caste-linked land conflicts that escalate into violence, drag through courts for years, and frequently end in acquittals — leaving victim families with neither justice nor closure. Opposition voices routinely raise questions about investigation quality and prosecutorial rigour in SC/ST atrocity cases when verdicts favour the accused. The SC/ST Act's special courts were created specifically to prevent this outcome; when they produce acquittals in mass-casualty cases, the systemic failure demands scrutiny beyond any single ruling.

Dalit groups are already pressing for a Rajasthan High Court appeal. The state government's next move — whether to challenge the acquittal or commission a review of prosecution lapses — will signal whether the political pressure translates into institutional accountability.

Eleven years is a long time to wait for justice. The families of Dangawas are still waiting.