Caste and Conflict: How Vidarbha’s Villages Became Social Labels

thenewsdirt
Jun 27
6 min read

In the Vidarbha region, certain villages carry reputations that extend far beyond their geographical boundaries.

These settlements have become synonymous with caste discrimination, violence, or conflict, creating invisible barriers that affect everything from water access to government services.

The consequences of such labelling penetrate deep into residents' daily lives, where postal addresses determine social standing and access to basic amenities.

Caste-Based Water Discrimination Creates Lasting Stigma

The summer of 2016 brought an extraordinary act of determination to Kolambeshwar village in Washim district.

Bapurao Tajne, a Dalit labourer, spent forty days digging a well by hand after his wife was denied access to a dominant caste neighbour's water source.

Working before and after his regular farm shifts without mechanical equipment, Tajne struck water and solved his family's immediate crisis.

The incident gained national attention, but not for the engineering achievement. Tajne's wife had returned home in tears after being told she couldn't access water because of her caste.

"He insulted us because we are poor and Dalits," Tajne told. The family chose not to press charges, fearing village escalation, while the neighbours involved never denied their caste-based refusal.

The well now serves multiple Dalit households in the area. Villager Jaishree noted, "Thanks to Tajne, we get water round the clock. Earlier, we had to travel a kilometre and get insulted sometimes." Officials who visited the site praised Tajne's determination but took no punitive action against the families involved in the discrimination.

Kolambeshwar's story highlighted broader patterns across Vidarbha's rural landscape. A 2017 survey found that over 450 villages in the region continued maintaining separate wells and temples based on caste.

In such areas, a person's village address often reveals their caste and social rank, creating unspoken rules governing daily interactions.

For years after the incident, Kolambeshwar remained known locally as the village where a Dalit man had to dig his own well because of discrimination.

This identity shaped how outsiders viewed the settlement and influenced administrative approaches to the area, demonstrating how caste-based incidents create lasting place-based stigma.

Violence Against Dalits Triggers Social Boycotts

Ruikhed village in Buldhana district entered public attention in June 2017 for far more violent reasons. A Dalit woman from the Charmakar community was attacked by a mob of over thirty men, largely from the dominant Maratha community, who accused her family of cattle theft.

Police reports detailed how the 50-year-old woman was dragged from her house, stripped, and beaten publicly, leaving her severely injured.

Twenty-three people were booked under rioting charges and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The background involved a land conflict and previous allegations against the family, who had contested local panchayat elections despite opposition from village elites.

In interviews later published, the woman explained, "It was their caste that made the family an easy target... We have never been in any decision-making positions." The assault triggered social boycotts against Dalit families in the village, with shops refusing service and calls for justice meeting counter-allegations of theft and provocation.

When the family attempted to access welfare benefits in subsequent months, local officials reportedly flagged their 'troublemaker' status in internal discussions.

The incident marked the Charmakar families in Ruikhed with a label that restricted their participation in village life, creating a hostile environment that persisted long after the immediate violence ended.

Though the state provided temporary police protection, the deeper issue remained unresolved. The belief that Dalits in Ruikhed were not entitled to challenge power structures became embedded in the village's identity, affecting how residents were treated by both neighbours and officials.

This case exemplifies how caste violence creates enduring stigma that affects entire communities within Vidarbha's social hierarchy.

Electoral Boycotts Lead to Administrative Retaliation

Wagda Izara in Yavatmal district took a different approach to addressing grievances in 2019. The farming village passed a resolution to boycott both Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, demanding compensation for crop losses, drought relief, and proper irrigation.

The area had witnessed multiple farmer suicides in the preceding years without significant government intervention.

The boycott attracted media coverage, and Wagda Izara became known throughout Yavatmal as one of the "suicide-hit villages." The district administration responded without aggressive policing, but consequences followed through other channels.

Villagers later said that local banks hesitated to offer fresh agricultural credit to households in the settlement, with loan officers reportedly treating the village's resolution as a sign of political hostility.

The protest label persisted beyond the immediate election period. In subsequent polls, Wagda Izara was consistently referred to as a protest village, and residents, mostly landless or smallholding Dalit and OBC farmers, found themselves routinely excluded from drought relief programmes and special assistance schemes in 2020 and 2021.

This case demonstrated how a village's public identity, particularly when shaped by perceived disobedience, can become grounds for exclusion in districts where administrative responses are closely tied to political conformity. The farming community's legitimate demands for agricultural support became overshadowed by their protest identity.

Tribal areas within Vidarbha face additional layers of discrimination based on geographic isolation and security concerns.

In April 2024, six tribal hamlets in Melghat's Rangubeli-Kinhikheda belt announced their intention to boycott Lok Sabha elections due to years of neglect.

Their demands were basic infrastructure - roads and electricity - despite being located within the Melghat Tiger Reserve buffer zone for decades.

Government officials later acknowledged that wildlife conservation clearances had delayed development work. Though the boycott remained peaceful, media reports labelled the hamlets as "no-road villages." A senior forest officer said, "There is no easy way to provide infrastructure there without violating forest protection norms."

By July 2024, non-governmental groups discovered that fewer officials were willing to accept postings in these hamlets, citing "low service delivery potential." The villages' association with inaccessibility and protest had created a self-reinforcing cycle of administrative avoidance.

Security Concerns Override Community Transformation Efforts

Gadchiroli's Pengunda village faced challenges stemming from its association with Maoist presence.

Long known as a 'sensitive zone' by state police and NGOs, the village had been marked by conflict for years. In 2022, a tribal man was killed by suspected Maoists on accusations of being a police informer.

Two years later, Pengunda passed a gaon-bandi resolution, formally banning Maoists and inviting development schemes. The move received official praise, but interviews with health workers and school staff in nearby hamlets revealed continuing reluctance to work in the area.

Despite no ongoing violence, the village was "still seen as a Naxal base," according to service providers.

Teachers posted there preferred transfers, and one healthcare worker said, "We still go only with a police escort." These statements illustrated how past associations could dominate present realities, even after communities actively tried to change their status.

In tribal parts of Vidarbha, administrative decisions often follow security mapping, which then influences how villagers are treated on the ground. Pengunda's name, linked to former conflict, made it undesirable for welfare delivery despite the community's explicit rejection of violence. This pattern shows how security-related stigma can persist long after actual threats have ended.

The weight of geographic identity extends beyond individual incidents to shape entire communities' futures.

These cases across Vidarbha demonstrate how locations can acquire reputations that fundamentally alter residents' access to basic services and social participation.

Kolambeshwar is remembered for a well dug out of necessity. Ruikhed became synonymous with caste violence. Wagda Izara earned recognition as a protest village. Melghat's tribal hamlets were categorised as inaccessible. Pengunda continues carrying the shadow of past conflict.

In each instance, residents did not choose the identity attached to their settlement. Once established, these perceptions influenced access to water, credit, healthcare, education, and safety. A village's name or social profile became a marker affecting how its people navigated daily life, from routine interactions to accessing government schemes.

The pattern reveals how place-based stigma operates in regions where social hierarchies and resource gaps run deep.

Geographic identity becomes intertwined with caste, class, and political compliance, creating invisible boundaries that determine who receives attention and support.

In these rural settlements, postal addresses carry significance beyond mere location - they signal social standing, political reliability, and administrative priority in ways that continue shaping community life long after the incidents that first created these associations.