DSS to stage protest demanding land for Dalits of Kachagondanahalli village in Bhadravati

The Shivamogga district committee of Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samithi has decided to take out a protest march in Shivamogga on October 28, urging the district administration to ensure the Dalits of Kachagondanahalli village in Bhadravati get back their 98 acres of land.

M. Gurumurthy, State convener of the DSS in a press conference in Shivamogga on Friday that the 49 families of Bhovi community, a Scheduled Caste, were granted two acres each in 1956-57 at Kachagondanahalli survey number 15. They cultivated the land for a few years. However, gradually, the influential people of forward castes in the village encroached upon their land and evicited the Dalits.

“Among the 49 families, only four have retained the land granted to them over the years. The remaining have been fighting for justice. Though they own the land as per the land records, the land is not in their possession. The Revenue Department officials have failed to restore land for the Dalits,” Gurumurthy said.

Meanwhile, the people of forward classes who took possession of the land had sought a grant of the same, claiming themselves as bagair hukum cultivators.

“We want the Dalit families to get back their land. We are staging a protest in Shivamogga to put pressure on the State government to take back the land from encroachers and return it to the Dalits,” Gurumurthy added.

Published - October 25, 2024 07:41 pm IST