Though 300 policemen were present, they failed to control the mob after being grossly outnumbered. The arson and looting continued till 9.30pm when additional police forces arrived on the scene.
Outraged by the suicide of a man who felt humiliated after his daughter
married a dalit boy in secret, a mob of non-dalits went on the rampage in three
villages of Dharmapuri district, looting and burning houses of dalits late on
Wednesday, police said.
The 2,500-strong mob set ablaze 148 houses in Natham, Anna Nagar and
Kondampatti villages. They claimed that the "humiliation" caused by
the marriage and the refusal of the dalits to send the woman back home had
resulted in the suicide of G Nagarajan (48). The mob looted valuables before
setting the houses on fire. Though 300 policemen were present, they failed to
control the mob after being grossly outnumbered. The arson and looting
continued till 9.30pm when additional police forces arrived on the scene.
Talking to TOI on Thursday, IG (west zone) T P Sundaramoorthy said the
situation was brought under control after an additional 1,000 personnel were
deployed and more than 90 people arrested. Cases had been registered against
210 others, he said. Nagarajan ended his life at his residence in Sellankottai,
not far from the Natham dalit colony, on Wednesday evening. The autopsy was
delayed because of frequent power cuts, and the body was handed over to his
relatives only on Thursday evening. Later, police said, a group of dalits set
fire to two houses belonging to non-dalits in Natham.
Govt announces compensation
Announcing compensation of 50,000 to each family that lost its house and
belongings, chief minister J Jayalalithaa said on Thursday that severe action
would be taken against those responsible for the violence. In a statement, she
said police had rushed to the spot and were taking necessary measures. She
instructed the district authorities to extend all help to the affected in the
violence. Police said Nagarajan's daughter Divya, 20, eloped with dalit youth
Ilavarasan, 23, about a month ago, and they got married in a temple. As the
non-dalits threatened them against entering Ilavarasan's house in the Natham
dalit colony, the couple approached the Salem police, seeking protection.
Meanwhile, the non-dalits conducted a 'kangaroo' court and directed the
dalit family to return the woman on Wednesday. But Divya refused to obey them
and made it clear that she would continue to live with Ilavarasan. Dharmapuri
SP Asra Garg said the kangaroo court was held at Nayakkankottai village last
week and the police were searching for those who took part in it and
orchestrated the violence.
Fire tenders were not able to reach the villages in time because huge
trees had been cut down on the roads to block them. Services of the Rapid
Action Force had been requested to maintain law and order, he said.Dharmapuri
collector R Lilly said the homeless had been put up in three government
schools.
Politics stoking caste fire
In a state that boasts of being progressive, caste divide is rearing its
ugly head once again. The violence that rocked Natham in Dharmapuri district on
Wednesday has reversed a recent positive trend in the northern districts of
Tamil Nadu, once a hotbed of simmering caste tension between Vanniyars and
dalits.
Activists point out that this is the first big caste violence in the
last two decades in Dharmapuri. The last decade had seen leaders of the
dominant communities in the region, the Vanniyars and the dalits, campaigning
together for communal harmony. "Tamil Nadu is a land of reformation.
Usually, political and social leaders of the state advocate inter-caste
marriages and successive state governments have encouraged progressive
development. But in recent months, this positive trend has changed and a few
caste leaders have been openly campaigning against inter-caste marriages,"
said writer-politician D Ravikumar, state secertary of the viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a dalit party with a presence in the north. "They
have indirectly encouraged killings in the name of honour and even ignited
violence. This should be stopped through progressive initiatives," he
said.
Caste leaders have gone one regressive step further to warn activists
against encouraging the union between couples of different castes and even
issuing diktats against love marriages. PMK MLA J Guru, who heads the Vanniyar
Sangam, the first avatar of the PMK, shocked progressive groups when he issued
an open threat at a community meeting, forbidding inter-caste unions.
Similarly, the Kongu Vellala Goundergal Peravai, which claims to represent the
community, issued advertisements in newspapers calling a meeting of community
members to oppose inter-caste marriages and launched a campaign against it.
Activists point out that the violence in Dhamrapuri had occurred in a
hamlet which used to have a strong presence of the left movement. "The
district was once the headquarters of the 'naxalbari' movement. Hence caste
violence in such a place has come as a surprise," said a police officer. Well-known
Tamil writer Manushaputhiran pointed out that political parties have been using
caste as a tool to improve their prospects. "Caste feeling is not only a
cultural issue now. Caste parties have been using it as a powerful political
tool as well," he said.
While there is a lack of cooperation between dalit and non-dalit leaders
in southern Tamil Nadu to end the divide, PMK leader S Ramadoss and Dalit
leader Thol Tirumavalavan made some efforts for communal amity in the northern
belt. Ramadoss unveiled dalit leader Ambedkar's statue in many places and the
VCK in turn honoured him by awarding him the Ambedkar Award.
The caste tension between Vanniyars and dalits was seen to have ended in
the early 2000 because of this truce between the two leaders, who came together
under the umbrella of Tamil Protection Movement. But the bonhomie did not last
and Ramadoss recently declared that his party would align only with caste
parties for elections in the future.
Source: Times of India
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