The demolished and burnt down ‘Bhatti’ of a render at Palolem.
CANACONA
A family member of a landlord has been accused of destroying a decades-old ‘Bhatti’ (toddy distillation unit) of a toddy tapper (render) at Palolem on Wednesday.
Outraged over the incident, the render community of Palolem said it was an atrocity against the community and convened an urgent meeting to discuss the issue.
According to Piedade Cardoz (86), a toddy tapper from Palolem, his father had set up the toddy distillation unit and he continued in the same occupation to raise his family.
“A female member of landlord’s family came to me and began to argue over the existence of our ‘Bhatti’ (Distillery Unit) near my house, and arrogantly threatened to demolish it,” said Cardoz.
“On Tuesday, she came and cut some parts of the Bhatti and put a curtain, blocking air to our place where we live. On Wednesday, she came again and with a Koita, began to cut everything and brought down our ‘Bhatti’, set it on fire and burnt it.”
Piedade’s son informed that the Bhatti had been part of their house.
“We also used our Bhatti to cook food and to dine. We pleaded with the landlord’s family member to first provide us with our rightful piece of land but she went on to harass us and not only demolished but also burnt down our 100-year-old ‘Bhatti’.”
“We are still paying distillery fees to the excise. In fact, we have very good relations with the landlord, but suddenly this female member of the landlord’s family began to create problems saying our house falls in her share of property,” the son added.
“We have lodged a complaint against the landlord at the Canacona Police Station, Dy Collector, Mamlatdar and Canacona Municipal Council for restoration of our ‘Bhatti’ and initiating action against the landlord.”
Meanwhile, the render community issued an appeal calling for a meeting of all members of the association at the residence of the victim.
‘A registered distillery of our member who had been staying at this place for more than hundred years has been forcefully demolished by the landlord without any formal notice. We view this grave incident as a serious atrocity against the minority,” stated the appeal.
“We would want all our members to attend the meeting to show solidarity during these difficult times,” stated the appeal, which was circulated on various social media platforms.
