‘Chalo Pathapally’, the agitation programme called by the Struggle Committee for Caste Annihilation, protesting against the ‘atrocities’ of a section of society against Dalits in Pathapally of Pebbair mandal in Mahbubnbagar district is on.
On Thursday morning, Anand Teltumbde, the grandson of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the champion of the weaker sections, will reach the dharna camp that has been on for over three weeks now. He will be accompanied by social activists from the University of Hyderabad — Profs. K.Y. Ratnam and K. Lakshminarayana and General Secretary of the Struggle Committee, Bandari Laxmaiah.
It all started this May 6, when members of the dominant ‘Boya’ community in the village forced themselves into the huts belonging to the minority ‘Madiga’ community and allegedly went on the rampage, throwing things out and pulling the huts down. The feeling among the Dalits is that the ‘Boyas’ did not like the scheduled castes being given land that was obviously prime, located as 16 plots are, in Survey No. 4 right next to the main road leading from Pebbair to Kollapur. Following this, the SCs were denied temple entry too and they stepped up the pressure launching an agitation, capping it off with a ‘Chalo Pathapally’ call. Efforts by the district administration to stave off the ‘Chalo Pathapally’ till late on Wednesday evening failed, with Mr. Laxmaiah and others unrelenting. On Tuesday evening, District Collector T.K. Sreedevi told them that having got a re-survey done nearby they would get them ‘pattas’ together with the 2 BHK houses announced by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
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But Mr. Laxmaiah pointed out that part of the land that she promised to give them originally belonged to another dalit by name Parmanna, to whom 2 acres was allocated in the year 2007. When contacted, Superintendent of Police, P. Vishwa Prasad said they were all for an amicable solution to be thrashed out on Thursday, but added that they would be prepared if trouble broke out. “Additional SP D.V. Srinivasa Rao will be at the dharna camp,” he said.
The district Collector Ms. Sreedevi later told The Hindu that she had imposed prohibitory order under Section 144 Cr. Pc. around the site of the dharna camp starting from the NH 44 at Pebbair and at the village too.
Social activists to lead the protest against the ‘atrocities’ by a section of society