Hundreds of people turned up in front of the Belthangady Taluk Panchayat on Monday demanding that the land allocated to S.D.M. Educational institute be given to Dalits in the region.
Gathering under the banner of the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkar vada), the protestors shouted anti-government slogans for having allegedly diverted nearly 43 acres of depressed classes (DC) Manna land in Ujire – which, during the time of the British was reserved primarily for Dalits – was given to the Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala to construct a “profit-making” educational institution.
“What land the Britishers have left behind for the Dalits, is being illegally taken over in the name of Dharma (religion) in Dharmasthala,” said K. Neela, State Vice-President, Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane.
