Dalits in TN-Andhra border village ‘ostracised’ for opposing ‘untouchability wall’
POSTED ON JUNE 7, 2022
A row has erupted in a village along the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border around an L-shaped ‘untouchability wall’ allegedly built by caste Hindus to keep out a Dalit colony. The seven-feet-high wall was constructed in 2016 around a settlement of 200 Dalit families residing in a two-acre land without their consent in Thokkamour, located around 60 kms from Chennai near Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.
Members of the Dalit community allege that they have been ostracised by the dominant castes for seeking demolition of the wall and stoppage of the fencing work on the poromboke (shared land resources owned by government) land in the village. A Draupadi Amman temple is located on the land and accessed by all communities. Diktats have reportedly been issued by the numerically-stronger Most Backward Classes (MBC) communities warning their members from engaging Dalits for work on agricultural lands, barring them from using the village crematorium and disrupting supply of water to their crops.
“It was only after petitioning the authorities that we came to know this was poramboke land (government land.) However, no action has been taken by district officials to remove the wall yet. Government should have demolished the wall,” Vijayakumar, a Dalit resident of the village, alleged. Jospin Stella, another Dalit man, told News9, “We are not allowed to go through the path leading to the Draupadi Amman temple. They suddenly put up a fence separating us. When we asked them how we will go, they said they open the gate at 8 am and 4 pm. Until then, we have to wait. We petitioned the concerned officials who came here and left. But there has been no solution yet.”
The Draupadi Amman temple is accessed by people of the three villages of Thokkamour, Elarmedu and Edakandikai. The area adjacent to the temple is inhabited by Dalits who say that they can’t access many places due to the wall. “We go to many places including the village administration office and the anganwadi through this way. But now we can’t access this route due to the wall. It has to be removed,” said Samykannnu, a resident of the village. Reportedly, new pillars are being erected around the poramboke land to further isolate the Dalits. “We are shocked.
We are just 200 members while MBC and BC community members number around 2000. So our voice is throttled,” said Radhika, a resident of Thokkamour. Shankar, another villager, said, “Due to the wall, rain water enters our houses during the monsoon. We had opposed the construction of the wall, but they refused. To prevent a clash on both sides, a peace meeting was conducted at the taluk office a few days back. But still, there’s no solution. Only the authorities can help.” When News9 contacted Munusamy, a representative of the dominant castes, he said “This is a matter involving three villages.
We had not erected any ‘untouchability wall’ as they claim. It was built with their consent to provide more space for the Draupadi Amman temple, especially during festivals. We don’t know why they suddenly oppose it for no reason.” The district administration of Thiruvallur conducted a meeting last week by calling up the two parties, but the issue hasn’t been resolved yet. Raman, Tahsildar of Gummudipoondi taluk, said, “We had conducted a meeting with two groups last week and they had agreed to stop the fencing work near the temple. Now there is the complaint of ostracism. We have scheduled one more meeting with them on this issue on June 9.”
https://www.news9live.com/state/hindi-will-reduce-tamils-to-status-of-shudras-dmk-mp-tks-elangovan-174739?infinitescroll=1
Courtesy : News9live
Note: This news piece was originally published in news9live.com/ and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.
