Disagreements, allegations disrupts peace meet

There is a new twist to the mass hair-cut incident reported from Ganguru village, near Halebeedu in Belur taluk.

Police had struggle to bring the situation under control when women of the Dalit groups fought within themselves at a peace meeting held on Thursday, in front of the Social Welfare Department officer.

Tension has prevailed in the village since the past five days for the alleged denial of entry to Dalits inside the temple, followed by the and mass hair-cut programme. A peace meeting had been organised on Thursday to settle the matter.

Police security was beefed up on the spot of the meeting. Social Welfare Officer Lakshmegowda was speaking about the rift between the Dalits and upper castes and was advising the villagers to live in harmony, when Annapurna, a Dalit woman got up and said that he should not be judgemental about the incident, and criticised him for failing to solve the problem amicably.

The other women however, alleged that the peace of the village was disturbed only after Bhagya, who was a resident of SC colony in Bangalore, shifted to Ganguru village. Till then, they were living in harmony with the upper castes, they said.

This provoked Bhagya, who was also present in the meeting, who got into an argument with the other women, who in the process assaulted the former, giving a tough time for the policemen. This also led to heated exchange of words between the residents and the police.

While police shifted Bhagya to Belur hospital, the other women staged a protest in front of the taluk office. The residents claimed that while Bhagya’s name was in the list of the accused, why was she summoned to the peace meeting. 

Meanwhile, Bhagya too has alleged that Social Welfare department officials had called her for the meeting with the sole intention of expelling her from the village.Police are camping in the village to prevent any untoward incidents.