KARWAR: For almost two years now, 12 families of Yennemadi near Hirregutti village in Kumta taluk, belonging to the Scheduled Caste, have been facing social boycott shockingly by their own community. Their crime: they are accused of informing the Forest Department officials about a few wildlife poaching incidents in which local villagers were involved.
Manjunath Haller, who has been the prime target of the villagers, said, “Sometime in 2019, some people had poached a sambar deer. This was followed by a few more cases of wild animals being poached. The culprits were later nabbed by the Forest Department. Following this, there was a debate in the village about who had informed the officials. I was targeted without even being given a chance to speak, and banished from the community,” he bemoaned. “My own community members even directed others not to give us any food or water, or even interact with us,” he added.
Boycotted families facing trouble finding jobs
The boycott did not end with Manjunath. His mother, wife and children too were ostracised. “My children, who used to go to school, were told by the parents of others children not to share their books, pens and pencils or talk to them. This continued for a few months until schools were closed due to Covid-19. I thought the boycott would be temporary, but recently, my daughter came home one day saying that she would not go to school as her friends do not speak or mix with her.
In all, 12 families, all of whom are either our relatives or friends, are now facing boycott,” Manjunath claimed. The families are facing trouble in finding jobs and other means of livelihood. Nobody shares food and shop owners do not sell groceries to them. They have to depend on shops outside the village. Over the last two years, Manjunath has repeatedly appealed to the villagers to end the boycott, but to no avail. Even a death in one of the families did not move the villagers.
“An elderly person in our family died. When we informed the villagers, no one came. Some villagers who attended the cremation have also been ostracised. Even anganawadi workers, who came to take the children from our families, are also facing boycott,” said Parvathi Haller, a woman from the village.
When allW of his efforts to convince the villagers to accept them back did not yield results, Manjuath wrote to the Uttara Kannada district deputy commissoner, Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and others, highlighting their plight, a few months ago. But nothing changed for them. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan, who recently assumed office, told The New Indian Express that he will look into the issue immediately and resolve it.