Wall of discord in Satara: Dalits threaten immolation

The village of Bhimnagar came into existence in 1959 when those displaced due to the construction of the Koyna dam were given land there. While most of the settlers belonged to the lower caste, some upper caste people were given land in 1961.

This led to the creation of a new village called Dare in 1994, to the south of Bhimnagar. However, soon people from the two villages were quarrelling over distribution of land and the common community hall. A case is pending on the matter in the district court.

“The main problem is the distribution of land between the two villages. The decision of the lower court, declared in July 2007, went against Bhimnagar. A compound wall was erected by the zilla parishad from the funds provided by an MLA,” said District Collector Vikas Deshmukh. However, the wall acted as a border between the two villages and barred access to the community hall located in Dare for residents of Bhimnagar, who celebrate the Ambedkar Jayanti there every year.

The Bhimnagar villagers have appealed to the district court. “We are facing problems while trying to enter the community hall, which belongs to us. We have given several notices to the administration but nobody is listening. So to attract the attention of the district administration, 75 of us threatened to commit suicide,” said a villager.

The District Collector has assured the Dalits that he will look into the matter. “As the case is with the court, I cannot take any decision about the wall. If possible, some more area could be allotted to Bhimnagar village,” he said.

However, the Dalits see an age old problem behind the wall. “The upper caste people didn’t want to live with us. So they asked for a separate village, granted in 1994. Then, the problem of land distribution surfaced. The population of Dare village was 170 while there were 650 Dalits at that time. But when village land was distributed, the two were allotted almost the same land. This is discrimination against us,” says Ashok Gaikwad, a Republican Party of India leader from Satara.