MYSURU: Bilegere, a non-descript village about 50 km from Mysuru, scripted history of sorts on the 66th Republic Day. A few people belonging to upper castes entered a dalit’s house and had lunch there.
A few years ago, dalits, who constitute 30 per cent of the village’s population, sought the opportunity to offer puja during the annual jatra mahotsav. People belonging to the upper castes had boycotted them socially and even stopped giving them work in their agriculture fields.
On Monday, the places where dalits live were decked up with portraits of Dr B R Ambedkar and social reformer Kanakadasa for the event, while revolutionary songs on eradication of untouchability rent the air.
At the Sahapankti Bhojana (mass feeding) organised at the house of Sannaiah, belonging to the Madiga sub-sect of dalits, several people, including MLA H P Manjunath, the tahsildar, ZP members and leaders of upper caste had ragi mudde, uppu saru and a palya.
Though the event received lukewarm response from upper caste communities, the organisers were hopeful that this would send across the right signal to the people. “Today, there might be only a few people who have accepted the invitation and had come for lunch, realising the importance of harmony and brotherhood. It’s only the beginning and we hope more people will realise the importance of putting an end the animosity between people,” Mahadevu, an upper caste schoolteacher, said.
Even upper caste political leaders gave a call to end untouchability, pointing out that it is against the basic tenets of humanity.
Manjunath said untouchability is a black mark in a country that has a vibrant Constitution and added that it will take some more time to eradicate it from the village.