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Puppet of Pappapatti

TO NOBODY'S SURPRISE, the newly elected Dalit president of the Pappapatti village panchayat in Tamil Nadu, K. Azhagar, resigned within a minute of his swearing-in. A nominee of the dominant `caste Hindus' of the panchayat, Mr. Azhagar contested the election merely to prevent the only other candidate, K. Muthan, who had the backing of Dalit groups, from winning the presidentship. The purpose served, the illiterate Mr. Azhagar duly handed in a resignation letter drafted by the puppeteers. Now, as in the past seven years, the Pappapatti village panchayat will have no elected representative. From the time the three-tier panchayati raj was introduced in Tamil Nadu in 1996, militant sections of Thevars, who are above Dalits in the caste hierarchy, have prevented the functioning of the panchayat and sent out an ugly message to the system: `you have reserved this presidentship, now let us see any Dalit take it up!' In Keeripatti, another panchayat facing the same problem, a climate of intimidation ruled out even the filing of nominations this time.

The issues at stake are caste dominance and oppression, and clan honour. After dictating panchayat affairs for generations, `caste Hindus' in Pappapatti and Keeripatti of Madurai district are not willing to surrender even formal authority to any member of the Dalit sub-communities. For the first full term from 1996 to 2001, they effectively prevented the holding of elections by ensuring that no Dalit filed the nomination. Originally, the reservation was meant for just one term. However, the State Government introduced an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act extending the reservation for another five-year term, that is, up to 2006. This time, the `caste Hindus' of Nattarmangalam, who allowed the election of a Dalit president in 1996, were sufficiently inspired by the example of Pappapatti and Keeripatti to sabotage the electoral process. In a fourth panchayat, Kottakachiyendal in Virudhunagar district, the difficulty is not so much caste conflict as the absence of Dalit families with an interest in the election process. In April 2002, candidates supported by the Dalit Panthers of India forced an election in Pappapatti and Keeripatti. Then as now, Dalit nominees of `caste Hindus' kept out the assertive Dalit candidates.

Evidently, the Thevars derive their power from their numbers, their position in the caste hierarchy, and their land ownership. Dominant sections among them fear that by allowing a Dalit to hold the presidentship, they will be undermining their own status. This explains why they are unwilling even to let a subservient Dalit run the panchayat for them. The presidentship of the panchayat holds symbolic significance and power by proxy is not good enough. Several suggestions have been made to break the present stalemate. Introducing the much-maligned party system at the village panchayat level is one. Another suggestion, which has come from the National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission, is the withdrawal of funding from those panchayats that refuse to fall in line. However, this will affect development works in already backward rural areas. Reserving the panchayat until a full term is completed with an elected Dalit president in office is another option that should be considered. Dalit organisations are also demanding that the resignation of the elected Dalit presidents should not be accepted. The argument is that since the intimidation of Dalits is self-evident, any resignation should be deemed to be non-voluntary. The issues at stake are vital and the State Government and all political parties must give priority to their resolution. There is an urgent need to end this farce of a dominant caste group subverting the process of electoral grassroots democracy.

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