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Tamil Nadu's Shame

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Tamil Nadu's Shame Empty Tamil Nadu's Shame

Post by Guest Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:18 pm

Tamil Nadu, one of India's most developed states, is one of the worst affected by the scourge of caste. It is India's second largest economy and, according to the World Bank, well on track to meet the major millennium development goals. But this masks a dark reality of decades-old and continuing atrocities by the dominant castes against the Dalits, who comprise 19% of the state's population.

Opponents of Dalit assertiveness have, over the years, provoked rioting and violence by desecrating - garlanding them with slippers, cutting off their heads - statues of Ambedkar. Pusillanimous authorities, unable to rein in the dominant castes have responded by placing the leader's statues in cages all over the state.

"This is Tamil Nadu's biggest shame. It shows the complete failure of the state to protect the Dalits. The state is increasingly succumbing to caste barbarity," says political scientist C Lakshmanan.

The opposition is so fierce and brazen that dominant caste groups have joined hands openly to demand softening of laws that aim at curbing atrocities against the Dalits - an example of what Mr Lakshmanan calls "explicit anti-Dalit politics".
In the past, dominant castes have refused to let state-run public transport buses named after Dalit icons to enter their villages, forcing the authorities to remove the name. In many villages, Dalits are still not allowed to use communal wells, enter Hindu temples, and visit barber shops.

More than 70 Dalits - more than in dirt-poor, caste-ridden, violent Bihar state - were killed in Tamil Nadu last year in mob attacks and clashes. There have been more than 15 judicial enquiries into incidents of atrocities against Dalits in the state since 1956, but not a single person has been punished.

"The tension with the dominant castes is increasing by the day. The dominant castes are ranged against the Dalits," says N Ravikumar, lawmaker and leader of VCK, a strident anti-caste party.

Many in the state call the shameful caging of Ambedkar statues as an example of "caste fascism" in modern-day India. It also proves that the country's caste parties are mostly interested in extracting special privileges and concessions for their communities rather than fighting for justice and rights. So untouchability, in its worst and vilest forms, is alive and well in Tamil Nadu.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34399696

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Post by Guest Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:20 am

Seshasamudram village in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu which has been seeing clashes between Dalits and Vanniyars since weeks was engulfed in violence, reports The New Indian Express. On Monday, miscreants hurled petrol bombs on the huts belonging to Dalits siblings. No one was injured in the incident.

The Dalit siblings have alleged that the fire was started by Vanniyars. Apparently, they lost many electronic items as well as important documents like land pattas and ration cards in the fire on Monday night.

A fortnight ago, caste clashes broke out in this village over a temple procession. Since then, more than 10 houses have been burnt down. Nearly 40 people have been injured in the fights that broke out.

The victims of the recent fire have said that their houses were burnt as they spoke to the media about the earlier riots. They claimed a few Vanniyars men had threatened them. Sasikela, whose husband Chandran had spoken to the media, said that some of the Vanniyars had issued death threats to him. "If anything happens to my husband or my family, the Vanniyars are to blame," she said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-tamil-nadu-village-tense-after-2-dalit-houses-burnt-2121210

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Post by Guest Sat Oct 03, 2015 12:19 am

Rashmun wrote:Tamil Nadu, one of India's most developed states, is one of the worst affected by the scourge of caste. It is India's second largest economy and, according to the World Bank, well on track to meet the major millennium development goals. But this masks a dark reality of decades-old and continuing atrocities by the dominant castes against the Dalits, who comprise 19% of the state's population.

Opponents of Dalit assertiveness have, over the years, provoked rioting and violence by desecrating - garlanding them with slippers, cutting off their heads - statues of Ambedkar. Pusillanimous authorities, unable to rein in the dominant castes have responded by placing the leader's statues in cages all over the state.

"This is Tamil Nadu's biggest shame. It shows the complete failure of the state to protect the Dalits. The state is increasingly succumbing to caste barbarity," says political scientist C Lakshmanan.

The opposition is so fierce and brazen that dominant caste groups have joined hands openly to demand softening of laws that aim at curbing atrocities against the Dalits - an example of what Mr Lakshmanan calls "explicit anti-Dalit politics".
In the past, dominant castes have refused to let state-run public transport buses named after Dalit icons to enter their villages, forcing the authorities to remove the name. In many villages, Dalits are still not allowed to use communal wells, enter Hindu temples, and visit barber shops.

More than 70 Dalits - more than in dirt-poor, caste-ridden, violent Bihar state - were killed in Tamil Nadu last year in mob attacks and clashes. There have been more than 15 judicial enquiries into incidents of atrocities against Dalits in the state since 1956, but not a single person has been punished.

"The tension with the dominant castes is increasing by the day. The dominant castes are ranged against the Dalits," says N Ravikumar, lawmaker and leader of VCK, a strident anti-caste party.

Many in the state call the shameful caging of Ambedkar statues as an example of "caste fascism" in modern-day India. It also proves that the country's caste parties are mostly interested in extracting special privileges and concessions for their communities rather than fighting for justice and rights. So untouchability, in its worst and vilest forms, is alive and well in Tamil Nadu.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34399696

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