On 11 July 1996, Ranveer Sena, a private army of upper caste landlords brutally massacred 21 people (11 women; five girls below 10 years; four boys below 8 years; and one man) in the hamlet of Bathani Tola of Bhojpur (Bihar), most of whom were dalit and Muslim landless poor. The massacre began at 2 in the afternoon, and for the next three hours, assailants from the neighbouring Badki Khadanv village set fire to huts, slashed women and children with swords, and continued firing bullets. There was a police station a mere 100 metres away, and 3 other police camps about 1-2 kms away in different directions. But no police interrupted the dance of death, and Bathani Tola was left to defend itself. In 2012, the Patna High Court acquitted 23 men convicted of the murders and with the appeal against the acquittal pending in the Supreme Court, victims of the massacre still await justice.

The memorial of the Bathani tola martyrs tells us the story of India's battle for justice and people's rights. It is also a reminder that, in these times those perpetrators have alligned themselves with the communal-fascist forces that aim to push the country back into the dark chapter of brutality and injustice.