Residents of Bigopur in Mahendragarh imprisoned in their own village

Ravinder Saini

Advertisement

Mahendragarh, June 19

Braving the scorching heat, over 20 villagers are sitting outside a shop at the bus stand in Dholera village and smoking hookah.

They have not gathered for any event, their purpose is to keep an eye on the road coming from the adjoining Bigopur village to prevent residents of Bigopur from entering Dholera. Significantly, this vigil is not only being kept during the day, but also at night.

The reason is a youth of Bigopur village and a girl of Dholera village got married secretly some days ago against the centuries-old custom of both villages. They are, at present, living in Narnaul town following the fear of backlash. Both are pursuing studies.

Residents of Dholera village are so angry that they have banned people of Bigopur from entering their village. They lament that there has been brotherhood between both villages for centuries; hence marriage cannot take place in each other’s village.

Residents of Bigopur village are upset by the ban as they are not being able to travel on roadways buses nor can they use the facilities of banks and post offices because they have to go to Dholera for all these facilities. Nearly eight residents of Bigopur village run their shops in Dholera and they are unable to open their shops due to the ban. Both villages are located within a distance of 1 km.

Lalchand, former panch of Dholera, while smoking hookah, feels no hesitation to say that the entry of Bigopur residents into Dholera village was prohibited by a joint panchayat of surrounding villages some days ago so that in future no one else can dare such type of wedding.

“Residents of both villages have been maintaining brotherhood for centuries. Boys and girls are like brothers and sisters to each other. How can anyone be allowed to get married?” he questioned.

Shivcharan, another resident of Dholera village, said separation of the couple was necessary to maintain brotherhood, hence the villagers intend that the youth’s family should hand over their girl back to them.

Mahendra Singh, another villager, claimed until the matter was resolved, neither would they allow any Bigopur resident to open shop here nor would they let them enter Dholera.

On the other hand, Mahipal of Bigopur village said they supported brotherhood, but the ban was not a solution.

Shivcharan, another villager, said he had been running a shop of construction material in Dholera village for a decade but the Dholera residents forced him to vacate it after the dispute. “I am worried about my livelihood,” he added.

Another villager Virendra said the college-going boys and girls were not able to go out of the village as the bus stand was located in Dholera.

Nizampur police station in-charge Jagdish said surveillance was being kept to maintain peace.