Village 'forbids' Dalit Union minister Narayanaswamy

Gollarahatti: It is a known fact that Dalits face discrimination in various walks of life even today. It became national news in 2019, when A. Narayanaswamy, a four-time legislator, former minister, sitting MP and a prominent Dalit leader from Karnataka, was denied entry to a village as he belongs to a scheduled caste.

The latest news is that he is still not welcome there even after assuming charge as Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment.

The village falls in the Chitradurga Lok Sabha constituency which is reserved for SC candidates.

The village Pemmanahalli Gollarahatti, located 150 kilometres away from Bengaluru near Pavagada in Tumakuru district, is deeply divided on whether the newly anointed minister should be allowed into the village and given entry into the community temple premises.

This fact came to light when IANS visited the village and spoke to the villagers on how they looked at the previous incident of preventing Narayanaswamy from entering the village as he belonged to a scheduled caste, and who has now gone on to be handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a cabinet colleague.

"How can we allow him into the village. If at all a felicitation had to be arranged, it should be arranged in a very close place to our village. We can never allow him into our temple," one of the villagers said angrily.

"When he comes, a large number of people belonging to scheduled caste come with him. We can't tolerate that. This should be done even if we have to spend a lakh or two from our side," he said.

Pennanahalli Gollarahatti has a 1,000-strong population and all of them belong to the Golla (Yadav) community. Till recently, women were kept outside their houses during menstrual days and pregnancy.