Hubballi: Social boycott in modern times? And that too of a soldier’s family for not parting with their own land?
It has happened in Thotagaddi village of Ramdurg taluk in Belagavi district. The family of soldier Vittal Kadakol, who serves in the Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir, is facing social boycott over a land dispute.
All members of the family have been ostracised by the villagers for not giving away 1,200 square feet of land owned by them.
The villagers have even imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on those who talk to the soldier’s family and have gone to the extent of restricting the village priest from performing the engagement and other marriage rituals of the soldier and his brother!
Thotagaddi is a little hamlet with a population of around 2,000. The forefathers of the soldier’s family had donated some land for the construction of a school.
Now, their house situated adjacent to the school has become the bone of contention between the family and village elders. The villagers have been exerting pressure on the family to vacate their house to build an anganawadi.
The family had already lodged a complaint with the deputy commissioner two years ago. The issue was resolved then following the intervention of officials after the family produced documents to prove their ownership. This made the villagers build the anganwadi at an alternative location.
Now, the family members complain that the village elders are still harassing them for refusing to give away the land. “Our grandfather had donated his land for the school. Now, the villagers are troubling us for not sacrificing our remaining land for the anganawadi. Our parents are living in fear as they have been isolated. We had to bring a priest and relatives from the neighbouring village of Sidnal as our village elders warned everyone against performing and attending the rituals related to my engagement,” said the soldier’s brother Manjunath Kadakol who is employed in Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
Ramdurg tahsildar Girish Swadi visited the village on Thursday to conduct an inspection. Mallikarjun Kadakol, the father of the soldier, narrated his woes to the officials with tears rolling down his face. He said that the marriage of his two children will not be possible if the only priest in the village refuses to perform the rituals under pressure from the elders. He also complained that his family was forced to postpone the marriage due to absence of the priest.
