Ram Nath Kovind as President still doesn't change fate of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh
More than 1,000 Dalits of the Mala community in Andhra Pradesh’s Garagaparru village in West Godavari district began an indefinite fast on July 25, to protest against an alleged social boycott by people from the upper caste Raju (Kshatriya) community. The villagers alleged that the boycott started after a dispute over installing a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar and it has affected their livelihood.
The Raju community opposed the installation of the statue, which was removed by some unknown persons within a few hours. The start of the fast coincided with the swearing in of Ram Nath Kovind as the President of India.
The landless Dalits, who work as farm labour, have since been allegedly denied work on the farms owned by the Raju community. After the alleged social discrimination came to light, the West Godavari district administration registered a case against the members of the Raju community on charges of wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. All the accused, however, have been released on bail.
“We have been barred from doing any agricultural work,” said G Rajesh, a Dalit youth. “We are also not allowed to work in ponds belonging to people from the upper caste.” The villagers also claimed that the district administration had taken no concrete steps to resolve the matter, but had given them some rice and other provisions on being informed about the boycott.
“The ostracisation of Dalits in Garagaparru just for installing a statue of Ambedkar is a classic example of this caste discrimination,” said Andre Malyadri, general secretary of the Struggle Committee against Caste Discrimination. A villager said some Dalit farmers who had taken land for cultivation from people from the upper caste had also been driven away and their leases had been cancelled. “Our womenfolk, who used to work in their houses, have been sacked.”
Leaders have made a beeline to the village.
On June 27, K Ramulu, a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes visited it and asked the district administration to restore normalcy. A few days later, YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy visited the village, on June 30, and demanded strict action against the accused.
On July 24, a delegation of the ruling TDP turned up to try and pacify the Dalits at a meeting addressed by three ministers N Ananda Babu, KS Jawahar and Pitani Satyanarayana along with the Scheduled Caste Finance Corporation chairman Jupudi Prabhakar Rao and the local legislator V Siva Rama Raju. It failed to make any headway.
The protesting Dalit families are demanding a two acre plot and Rs one lakh for every family as compensation. They have also demanded a separate gram panchayat for the Dalit colony in the village. While the government has assured them of a positive hearing, it has promised to reinstate the Ambedkar statue at the earliest.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)