Why caste battle in TN never ends
M Kalyanaraman & Bosco Dominique
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TNN
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Today, nearly every caste group in the state has political strength and this accounts for the endless cycle of violence not witnessed anywhere else in the South
Parameswari and Suresh (names changed) work at large banks in Chennai and have known each other since they were classmates in a Vellore college. The two wanted to get married but Parameswari's parents, who live in a village near Vellore, have refused permission. They are vanniyars, categorized as OBCs, and the boy is a Dalit.The family's fears are understandable -over the last couple of years, Vanniyar-Dalit marriages have led to violence across northern Tamil Nadu. Chennai is just 200km away from Parameshwari's village but it is far removed from her family's realities.
Violent clashes between dalits and OBCs have been a feature of the southern districts for many decades. But since the late 1980s, when PMK chief S Ramadoss, a vanniyar leader, started a powerful campaign demanding separate quotas for his caste group, violence has become common in the north too.
In the past it took egregious instances of untouchability to set off a conflict -serving tea to Dalits in separate tumblers or refusing to let them use footwear for in stance. But today , violence is sparked off by inter-caste marriages and dalit demands to worship in temples.
Typically , Dalits would ask for the right to pull the village temple car (rath) during festivals. But, at Seshasamudram village in Villupuram, the Mariamman temple was for dalits, and the district administration had brokered an agreement between the Vanniyars and the Dalits on the route the car would take.
On the night of August 15, a dozen Dalit villagers were decorating the car for next day's procession when there was a sudden blackout. A mob descended on the dalit colony , launching a brutal attack. As the 80-odd Dalit families fled the colony , the mob got to work, burning down houses and vehicles. The temple car was torched and petrol bombs were lobbed into homes.
It took the police four hours to bring the situation under control. Over 70 persons were taken into custody and charged under various sections including prevention of atrocities on SCST act. “We never expected violence on this scale especially after we reached a consensus.Most Vanniyars are not against taking our temple car in procession but a few influential people were against it. They said the presiding deity can be taken in a bullock cart through public roads, not the temple car,“ says a dalit representative.
The violence has raised the political temperature in the state. A week after, the Dalits have still not returned home.Ramadoss has alleged that the police and district administration are biased against Vanniyars. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the party that represents the Dalit caste group in northern TN, has flayed the delay in providing compensation to those affected.
It is important to understand the tussle over the temple car. In Tamil Nadu, the temple is the centre of village -and community -life. Temple festivals are the most significant events in the village calendar and Dalits have been increasingly demanding that their right to worship and take part in common festivals be upheld.The dominant OBCs in the areas have often opposed this.
“This is the classic situation that Ambedkar described.The OBCs may be vociferous in their opposition to upper castes and brahmins, demanding quotas as under-privileged, but they need the Dalits under them so they feel superior,“ says C Lakshmanan, faculty at the Madras Institute of Development Studies.
“That we have so many caste outfits with political strength is the reason for the violence that we don't see in other southern states,“ says Dalit scholar and VCK member D Ravikumar.
Violent clashes between dalits and OBCs have been a feature of the southern districts for many decades. But since the late 1980s, when PMK chief S Ramadoss, a vanniyar leader, started a powerful campaign demanding separate quotas for his caste group, violence has become common in the north too.
In the past it took egregious instances of untouchability to set off a conflict -serving tea to Dalits in separate tumblers or refusing to let them use footwear for in stance. But today , violence is sparked off by inter-caste marriages and dalit demands to worship in temples.
Typically , Dalits would ask for the right to pull the village temple car (rath) during festivals. But, at Seshasamudram village in Villupuram, the Mariamman temple was for dalits, and the district administration had brokered an agreement between the Vanniyars and the Dalits on the route the car would take.
On the night of August 15, a dozen Dalit villagers were decorating the car for next day's procession when there was a sudden blackout. A mob descended on the dalit colony , launching a brutal attack. As the 80-odd Dalit families fled the colony , the mob got to work, burning down houses and vehicles. The temple car was torched and petrol bombs were lobbed into homes.
It took the police four hours to bring the situation under control. Over 70 persons were taken into custody and charged under various sections including prevention of atrocities on SCST act. “We never expected violence on this scale especially after we reached a consensus.Most Vanniyars are not against taking our temple car in procession but a few influential people were against it. They said the presiding deity can be taken in a bullock cart through public roads, not the temple car,“ says a dalit representative.
The violence has raised the political temperature in the state. A week after, the Dalits have still not returned home.Ramadoss has alleged that the police and district administration are biased against Vanniyars. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the party that represents the Dalit caste group in northern TN, has flayed the delay in providing compensation to those affected.
It is important to understand the tussle over the temple car. In Tamil Nadu, the temple is the centre of village -and community -life. Temple festivals are the most significant events in the village calendar and Dalits have been increasingly demanding that their right to worship and take part in common festivals be upheld.The dominant OBCs in the areas have often opposed this.
“This is the classic situation that Ambedkar described.The OBCs may be vociferous in their opposition to upper castes and brahmins, demanding quotas as under-privileged, but they need the Dalits under them so they feel superior,“ says C Lakshmanan, faculty at the Madras Institute of Development Studies.
“That we have so many caste outfits with political strength is the reason for the violence that we don't see in other southern states,“ says Dalit scholar and VCK member D Ravikumar.
