Bagalkot: Relatives of a retired Dalit army serviceman have alleged untouchability after shops and hotels in a Karnataka village closed their shutters when they arrived for his last rites on February 25.
Hanumantappa Harijan, 55, belonged to the Holeya community, listed under the Scheduled Castes. He had served in the army before his retirement.
According to The Hindu, the trouble began in Chinnapur village in Bagalkot district when relatives who had come to pay their respects found that shops and hotels had downed their shutters upon learning that Dalits were visiting. One shopkeeper went as far as refusing to accept a soft drink bottle from a relative before pulling down his shutter, citing lunch break, a move that triggered an uproar in the village.
Following multiple complaints of untouchability, the district administration stepped in and convened a peace committee meeting in Chinnapur. A team led by Tahsildar Amaresh Pammar, comprising officials from the Social Welfare Department and the police, reached the village to hold talks with locals. The committee met with villagers, hotel and shop owners and salon operators, urging them to desist from practising untouchability and reminding them that it is prohibited under the Constitution.
A follow-up peace committee meeting has been scheduled for March 2.
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