Uttarakhand village boycotts Dalit families over drummer's no-show

Gopeshwar: Dalit families of a remote village in Chamoli district were boycotted after a person from the community failed to turn up to play the drum at a temple due to illness.

The boycott was announced on Sunday by the local panchayat of Subhai village, located in the Niti Valley, near the India-China border.

There are about half a dozen scheduled caste families in the village which have been playing drums for generations at social, cultural, and religious festivals in the village.

However, when one Pushkar Lal could not turn up to play the drum at a religious event due to sickness, the local panchayat ordered the entire community’s social boycott.

A member of the panchayat was caught in a video allegedly announcing the boycott and threatening the villagers with similar consequences if they did not follow the order.

According to the panchayat’s order, the SC families were barred from using the forest and water resources in the village, buying essentials from shops, commuting in vehicles, and visiting temples.

The victim’s families lodged a complaint at Joshimath Police Station, accusing two men, Ramkrishna Khandwal and Yashvir Singh, of being the architect of the order.