Polls divide lepers8217; colony

The Kopri Leprosy Colony, as it is referred to in local parlance, has witnessed several bloody skirmishes between the two communities as they fought for a larger chunk of the business. Pitched battles were fought in the narrow gullies in 1969,1979 and 1989. Scores of people died and several others were injured before the elders decided to stop the madness and formulate a peace treaty comprising a ceiling on the quantity of liquor that a family could brew per day. A common panchayat with four members of each community was also constituted to hear complaints. While the accord had ensured peace in this locality for the last few years, the rising election fervour is now threatening this fragile calm. With the two communities supporting rival political groups, the clash of interests is likely to renew the old rivalry.

But, the threat of more deaths, more violence does not bother either of the two groups. Maharashtrian lepers say they do not want to elect those who treated them like quot;untouchablesquot;, while their Tamilians counterparts do not want a replay of quot;Pungi Bajao Lungi Hataoquot; campaign of Bal Thackeray. quot;We want to elect those who live and let us live,quot; says Armugam, a staunch Sena opponent and squarely blames Thackeray8217;s rhetorics for allthe violence that happened in the past. He recalls how in the eighties the Shiv Sena had set up a shakha in their colony. Soon the Tamilians also got together and set up a Congress office. When asked if he supported Congress because when the party was in power a regular hafta was enough to keep the bhattis burning, he said: quot;Which government can stop police from charging hafta. At least the Congress does not discriminate.quot;

Jagannath Parve, vice-president of Maharashtra Kusht Rog Pidit Sanghatana, say the Sena-BJP government too has been sympathetic to them. quot;They are aware of our illegal business. But they never stopped us because they also know that we have to somehow survive,quot; he said, denying that they pay haftas to either the police or politicians. quot;If today our youths are employed in the Thane Municipal Corporation and are not part of the underworld, it is only because Shiv Sena,quot; claimed Shankar Mahajan. That8217;s exactly where the Tamilians have a problem.quot;Maharashtrians have always been given more than they deserve8230;our children never get jobs in the TMC. We don8217;t want BJP-SS to win and throw us out of the state as they have often threatened,quot; says Shanmugham, a Tamilian and a member of the panchayat.

The Thane police, meanwhile, is unaware of the building tension. If violence breaks out they may even not come to know about it. quot;Our quarrels have never been registered in police stations. Nobody files complaints and disputes are settled within the colony. Even if we approached the police, do you think they will come here?quot; asks Pandurang Thavate.