The Isolated Community Has Chosen To End The Discrimination

The isolated community that stopped a dalit MP from entering their hamlet has chosen to end the discrimination.

- Prathima Nandakumar

On September 22, a Gollara-hatti—a Golla/Yadava settlement—in Pemman-ahalli village of Pavagada taluk, Tumakuru, was witness to a spectacle. Pontiffs from various backward classes and dalit mutts took part in the ‘pura pravesha’, a grand reception organised by the villagers, to welcome the dalit MP who had been denied entry into the hamlet only a week before.

BJP MP from Chitradurga, Anekal Narayanaswamy, was stopped from entering the hamlet on September 16, for being a dalit. Narayanaswamy belongs to the marginalised Madiga community, who were considered untouchable in the caste-based hierarchy.

The existence of untouchability in Pemmanahalli, barely 160km from Bengaluru, evoked outrage across the state. The blatant caste discrimination and ostracisation was widely condemned, with many demanding the immediate arrest of the villagers under the Atrocities Act. Some wanted a public apology.

Narayanaswamy, who swallowed the humiliation, decided to “win hearts” rather than challenge the status quo using force. He chose not to file a complaint against the villagers. He blamed lack of education and poverty for their ignorance, and lamented that such practices still existed in the 21st century. The hamlet with 150 Golla/Yadava families suffered humiliation, too, as the incident went viral triggering huge backlash.

A stream of visitors—social activists, Yadava community leaders, pontiffs, police, politicians and the media—has made the locals wary. It took several icebreaker meetings, awareness sessions and intervention by community leaders and pontiffs to convince the villagers, as the hamlet was oscillating between anger and remorse. Finally, they decided to bid adieu to an age-old practice and embraced change.