The outbreak of cholera in Ghoda brought many journalists to this small village in Viramgam taluka of Ahmedabad district but the reporters found here something even more disturbing than the disease. More than 62 years after Independence, untouchability is still practised in Ghoda. Caste prejudice is so deep-rooted in the village that though its sarpanch belongs to a Scheduled Caste community, Ghoda has separate wells for Dalits and caste Hindus.
Dalits comprise almost one-third of Ghoda’s total population of over 3,000 people. Scheduled Caste people are not allowed to draw water from the well located near the village pond. If they want water from that well, they have to request people of other communities to draw water from the well and pour it into their vessel. Untouchability has been practiced in the village for many years and even caste Hindus acknowledge this fact.
Some Dalits of the village alleged that untouchability was a daily experience for them. “No scheduled caste student can serve food during mid-day meals in the village’s primary school,” said Pankaj Parmar (name changed), a Dalit villager of Ghoda.
“If a Dalit student gets up to serve the food, the students of other communities leave immediately.” Parmar observed that it was strange that the three kirana (grocery) shops in the village which depended heavily on scheduled caste customers, did not allow Dalits to enter their premises.
