Punjab landlords impose fine for talking to Dalits (NDTV)
“Dalits of the Mahasing village who work as farm help have been boycotted and shunned by their upper caste landlords. This because they demanded wages due to them.
“The landlords have issued a diktat to the villagers that says whoever is caught helping or interacting with the roughly 350 Dalits will have to pay Rs. 5000 as a fine.
“So while being employed is a distant dream for these people, even basic groceries are being denied to them.
“‘Shopkeepers have been told not to give us anything. We buy everything from outside the village, even milk. The whole village has boycotted us,’ explains Satnam, a youth now unemployed.”
See also:
Caste council in Rajasthan ostracises 40 Dalit families (Jagran Post, July 1, 2012):
“A caste council in a village in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district ordered residents to ostracize 40 Dalit families when one of them disobeyed its diktat to stop constructing a new house, police said. [...]
“‘A Dalit family was constructing a house in the village. The neighbour who belonged to Rajput community objected to the construction of a sun shed and demanded that the entire portion of the house on his side be razed down,’ said a police officer.
“He added that when the family did not raze down the portion, the neighbour approached the caste council in the village.
“‘It slapped a fine of Rs.21,000 on the dalit family and ordered to expel all the 40 families belonging to Dalits in the village from the society. It means that they would not be able to mingle with others and would not be able to buy grocery items from the shops. Supply of milk, water and other items were also prohibited,’ said the officer.”
Comments