The Hindu : Fear is the key

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 29, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Fear is the key

Every time they try to assert themselves, the Dalits in Tamil Nadu risk being beaten up, writes Suresh Nambath.

EVERY TIME they want to participate in a local temple festival, every time they want to walk with footwear or cycle through upper-caste areas, in short, every time they try to assert themselves, Dalits in Tamil Nadu risk being beaten up. But they rarely prefer a complaint. For, more often than not, the police too are on the side of the upper castes.

If actual cases of attacks are not widely reported, it is because the Dalits, especially the unorganised sections in the rural areas who are economically dependent on the upper castes, have learnt the hard way that submissiveness is their only protection. Without the backing of political parties or organised groups, any Dalit assertion or protest is sure to be met with violence.

From the caste violence in 1995 in Kodiyankulam, where Dalits breaking out of caste bondage were targeted by the upper caste Thevars who felt economically left behind, to the police excesses last year in Sankaralingapuram, where an entire Dalit colony was ransacked, Dalits have been at the receiving end of both the dominant castes and the State machinery.

A couple of months ago, Dalits who wanted to participate in a festival at a temple at Vazhuthalempedu in Gummidipoondi were assaulted by people of an intermediate caste. The police refused to even register a case forcing several Dalit organisations to intervene. Actually, the temple was jointly built by the Dalits. But that did not help them to claim equal rights over it.

Apart from such large-scale violence against Dalits, individuals have been subjected to violence and humiliation for daring to question the authority of the dominant castes. A striking case was that of Velu of Sivaganga district who, in October this year, was thrashed and paraded naked for questioning the use of machines in work meant for those below the poverty line. Although any labourer in Velu's place would have been beaten up for taking on Big Money, only a Dalit could have been paraded naked before an entire village dominated by caste Hindus.

In the case of Velu, he got justice as his oppressors had acted in blatant violation of the norms of a Government scheme. Others like Sankan of Dindigul district, who, in September this year, was subjected to humiliation for protesting encroachment of his land by intermediate castes, were not so lucky. Despite social activist groups and political parties taking up his cause, Sankan received an adverse report from the Collector, and he was none the better for his show of protest.

For every Velu and Sankan, there are hundreds of Dalits who suffer oppression in silence. And escape physical violence.

But the fact remains that without external help, even the cases of Velu and Sankan would not have come out in the open. Unless activist groups and Dalit organisations intervene, the Dalits remain unheard. And when such organisations intervene, there is always the danger of upper caste retaliation that could lead to caste clashes.

One reason for the Dalits lacking faith in the State apparatus for a solution to their problems is the failure of the local body institutions. Elections have not been held to Pappapatti and Keeripatti, panchayats reserved for Dalits, as the Thevar community leaders have opposed the reservation of their panchayats for the Scheduled Castes. Dalits were not allowed to file nomination papers for the posts. And when Dalit parties managed to put up candidates, the Thevars forced two poor Dalits to contest, elected them, and then made them resign immediately. Political parties watched helplessly.

Worse is the case in reserved panchayats where elections were actually held. Dalits nominated by the upper castes win. And, even if they don't the Dalit presidents are not allowed to function freely. A Dalit woman panchayat president, S. Mani, of Pottlupatti in Usilampatti taluk, has a running battle with the vice-president, Ravindran, a Thevar, who refuses to sign cheques for any of the works being implemented by the local body.

Upper castes in rural parts of the State do not want any kind of Dalit assertion in their areas, and certainly do not want to have Dalits as panchayat presidents. How could a Dalit represent them, is their question. Such caste divisions have been accentuated by the introduction of panchayati raj. The height of resentment was marked by the murder of the Dalit president of the Melvalavu panchayat, Murugesan. He lost his life for no reason other than that he was a Dalit panchayat chief.

Of course, such divisions do exist at the level of the Assembly election too. The Puthiya Thamizhagam president, K. Krishnasamy, lost the Ottanchathiram election in 2001 following a consolidation of the votes of the caste Hindus against him cutting across political rivalries.

Thus the Dalits are now stridently demanding separate electoral colleges, and also separate residential colonies. The Samathuvapuram housing project, launched with great fanfare by the DMK Government as a colony for people of all castes, flopped merely because the upper castes were in no mood for any "artificial integration" even if it came at Government expense.

As long as the feudal structures remain in place in the rural heartland of Tamil Nadu, cosmetic intervention by either the Government or the social activist groups will do little to reduce the caste tensions.

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