Mysuru: Believe it or not, even though we are in the 21st century, there is a village in Mysuru which prohibits the Dalits from wearing footwear! If you visit the Rattehalli village here, members of the SC/ST community are forced to walk barefoot, denied entry into temples, not allowed to go for a haircut and if at all they find a non-Dalit, they are supposed to stand with folded hands. Here, Dalits are treated like children of lesser Gods.
Puttalakshmama, who is a member of the SC/ST Jagruthi Committee spoke about these shocking facts during the SC/ST Jagruthi Committee meeting held at the DC’s office.
Continuing to narrate the pathetic state in which the Dalits have been living here, she said that nothing has changed despite having brought these issues to the notice of former chief minister Siddaramaiah. She said that the dislike towards and the stigma against the Dalit community is such that the non-Dalit people do not even come to the Fair Price Shop run by a local Dalit youth.
“When the local police were informed about this issue, they came up with a solution. Instead of convincing people to go to the existing ration shop, they opened a separate shop for the non-Dalits,” she alleged.
Diwakar of K R Nagar, who is also a member of the committee said that the atrocity cases filed by the Dalits are often met with counter cases.
Abhiram Sankar, Deputy Commissioner said that this was the first meeting of the year and the same was delayed due to elections. He said that cases of denying entry into temples, not allowing Dalits to cut their hair continue to persist in many places and all steps will be taken to make sure that such episodes do not repeat.
The DC said that the Basaveshwara temple in Hunsur, which was closed after allegations that SC/ST people were not allowed inside will be re-opened.
