Status: Done
Hyderabad: The alleged social boycott of the Goud community is snowballing into a major controversy in Tallarampur village of Nizamabad district. Many people rallied behind the village development committee (VDC), which was allegedly responsible for the social boycott of Gouds.
Tension escalated during the Sri Ram Navami celebrations when women from the Goud community were barred from participating in the rituals. Shocked over this, they lodged a complaint lodged with the police. In the complaint, they stated that when the women from the Goud community went to the temple, they were not allowed to participate in rituals. When they questioned the priest, he reportedly told them that the VDC had decided not to allow them.
Based on a complaint, police filed a case against VDC president A Devanna, members E Raju, Tammidi Raju, and the priest Vishnu Sharma under sections 131, 192, and 292 of BNS and also section 78 of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955.
When the police went to the village to arrest them on April 7, the villagers resisted it. “We will enforce the law. The villagers were instigated by the VDC members to prevent their arrests,” Bheemgal Circle Inspector Ponnam Satyanarayana told TOI on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Nizamabad commissioner of police P Sai Chaitanya warned members of VDC against involving themselves in civil disputes, land issues, settling disputes within families, or taking decisions such as enforcing social boycott on a particular community or group of people.
The trouble between the Goud community and village development committee escalated last year when the former allegedly refused to pay money as demanded by the VDC for the toddy they tap in the village. The Gouds refused to pay the money, saying that the trees were all on their own lands and, except for a few, none of the other families were tapping toddy. “When we do not have to pay any tax to govt itself, why should the VDC impose any,” they argued.
As the toddy tappers community did not give in to the demand of the VDC, the women of the community were allegedly not permitted to take part in the temple rituals. The VDC members, however, told the police that they did not impose any social boycott and denied that they prevented anyone from taking part in the festival rituals.
