Dalit community facing social boycott over water sharing in Haryana

Bhatla is bitter as is every single person in the village, divided by a debilitating social boycott. The mood in the village is plagued with a nagging fear and beset with a pronounced mistrust that hounds those from the lower and upper caste equally. However, the Dalits alone are weighed down by the joblessness arising from fields becoming out of bounds, the inconvenience of fending for themselves and the nagging compulsion to carry on. A clash between Dalit boys and those of the upper castes over filling water from the lone hand pump two years back created a chasm between the two castes. Since then, the two are wary of each other and the blame-game has taken a toll on the social fabric of the village.