The 8-km long march 'Chalo Pathapally' march began a little around noon on Thursday, in quest of justice to members of the 45 Dalit families, who were persecuted by the dominant Boya community who number slightly-over 400.
Around the second week of May, the Dalit families >were driven out of land that was allotted to them by the government. Members of the Boya community then proceeded to bury their dead in this land to ensure that the displaced families cannot return.
As already announced, social activists led by IIT-Kharagpur professor Anand Teltumbde, the grandson-in-law of B.R. Ambedkar, began the procession that saw a hundreds of concerned citizens and aggrieved Dalits, shouting slogans against an apparently uncaring Government.
The primary demands of the agitators included issuance of pattas near the main road leading to Kollapur from here; 2 BHK houses with basic amenities as promised by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao; and action against police and revenue officials who allegedly did not act fast enough.
Earlier, a meeting was organised at the Dharna camp here and Mr. Teltumbde, Profs. K.Y. Ratnam and K. Laxminarayana of the University of Hyderabad, Surapaneni Sujata of Satavagana University, P. Jaya of Chaitanya Mahila Sangham, U. Sambasiva Rao who participated in the agitations against the Karamchedu and Tsundur carnage a in 1985 and 1991, respectively, addressed the motley gathering.
Mr. Anand and others expressed their regrets at the first reported case of persecution on such a large scale, of Dalits since the birth of Telangana on June 2 last. He expressed his surprise at the district administration terming the case as 'small' and warned that seemingly-small incidents turned into large movements for justice, only when they were neglected in the initial stages.
Unwillingly to take any chances, the district police laid on a strong presence, with Additional SP D.V. Srinivas Rao personally monitoring the situation.
When contacted, Special Collector Vanaja Devi was coming to the village, where the movement was expected to be brought to a peaceful end, what with the administration agreeing to the demands of the agitators.
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