11 families face social boycott

Village elders boycott 11 families, consisting of 60 members, for approaching court on a land dispute. They are denied drinking and irrigation water, sale of provisions etc

Yellareddypet (Sircilla): As many as 11 families in Venkatraopalli in Yellareddypet mandal of Sircilla district have been subjected to social boycott for the last 10 days, which forced the children of these families to starve on New Year Day while all others were having a gala time. The village elders have banned 11 families having the common surname ‘Marupaka’, as they went to court over a land dispute despite their warning not to do so. As part of the social boycott, the 60 members of these 11 families were banned from using drinking water and irrigation water.

Following the village elders’ restrictions, none of the villagers are neither speaking with the members of boycotted families nor selling them essential commodities.The families resorted to court in order to protect their lands from a few persons belonging to their own community. The four acres of land in question lies in a hilly area in their ancestral village.

A few persons of the same community claimed that they have a share in the land, as they bought one acre. This became an issue between the two sides, resulting in the elders holding a ‘panchayat’, which decided to pressurise the families to give up their claims on the land, although the other side has no such right. Some young members of the families decided to approach court to find a settlement to the issue. This enraged the elders, who ordered social boycott of these families.

Without supply of essential commodities due to the boycott, the elders of the families are starving so as to feed their children.
One of the 60 persons, Anthaiah, who cultivated groundnut in two-acre of lease land, is suffering due to lack of water supply. His crop is virtually on the verge of drying. His relative, who drives a tractor, is also being denied employment because of the social boycott. He has been told not to work.

The bread-earners of the families have lost their work and are in dilemma as to whom they should approach. The worst thing is that even the children are not allowed to play with other children.The members of the banned families appealed to people’s representatives to solve their problem. They contended that they would be left with nothing for their livelihood if they were forced to give up their land claims.The village elders refused to speak when the reporter of The Hans India tried to seek their reaction.