A curfew-like situation prevailed in Sigaranahalli in Holenarsipur taluk on Saturday, with the police denying permission for ‘saha pankti bhojana’ (all castes dining together) programme organised by progressive organisations.
While the police claimed the event would lead to disrupting peace in the village, the organisers argued it was undemocratic to disallow an event aimed at promoting harmony between communities.
Earlier in the week, amid opposition from the ‘upper’ caste people, the Hassan district administration took two Dalit women inside the Basaveshwara temple at Sigaranahalli.
On Saturday, a clutch of organisations under the banner of Janapara Vedike organised ‘saha pankti bhojana’ event and Haralahalli Gram Panchayat had given them permission. It was to be held in a community hall into which Dalits are traditionally not allowed.
The police, however, denied permission hours before the programme and posted policemen on roads that lead to the village to stop organisers from entering the village.
Vehicles were stopped and passengers were interrogated. Even residents of the village were asked to show identity cards as proof to enter the village. This led to the villagers and organisers getting agitated.
Minutes before he was taken into custody here, G.V. Srirama Reddy, one of the organisers, told presspersons, “Dalits have no security in the State. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claims his government is pro-Dalit, but it is actually not so. Otherwise, the police would have not denied permission to hold a programme in the village,” he alleged. Even as the organisers were about to leave for Sigaranahalli in private vehicles, the police took them into custody.
Thayamma, a resident of Sigaranahalli who had earlier attracted wrath of ‘upper’ caste people for entering the temple, said that Scheduled Caste people in the village were under constant fear.
“Representatives of ‘upper’ caste people did call for a meeting on Friday near our colony and told us not to organise any event in the village involving outsiders. They also threatened of dire consequences if the programme is held,” she said. Superintendent of Police Raman Gupta visited the village in the evening and held talks with representatives of both the communities.
