Tirunelveli tragedy

As the leaders of the rally and others havepointed out, the firing was resorted to without allowing the rallyists any escape route other than the river. This adds to the lengthy list of instances cited over the years of an increasingly anti-Dalit character and role of the state apparatus.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi does not seem to seriously challenge the charge when he argues that the district official cannot be transferred, even to facilitate the inquiry, because such a step will be opposed strongly by the `other backward classes’. As in the North, the worst of the caste conflicts in the South are known to be waged between the Dalits and a dominant backward caste, of Thevars in this case. It is not the Dalits’ perception alone that the Dravidian camp, particularly the DMK, has identified itself with their adversaries. And that the much-vaunted Dravidian movement for social justice has stopped with the backward classes and short of those untouchably beyond the pale.

Karunanidhi does strike a chord when he complains about the provocativemethods of the Puthiya Thamizhagam and its leader Dr Krishnasamy which have given no good name to the Dalits any more than Kanshi Ram’s have. The revival of untouchability 50 years after Independence in this part of India, where Dalits can be served only in disposable cups in tea-shops and where their collective defiance is punishable with a poisoning of their community wells, is a reality that cannot be wished away.

The DMK president does acknowledge this, but his pet scheme of samathuvapurams (abodes of equality) — all-community housing colonies — do not suffice to answer the problem. What is needed is nothing less than a full-fledged, crusading campaign by all enlightened parties, forces and personalities of Tamil Nadu — which claims a pioneering role and a creditable record in social reform — against caste discrimination and oppression of the kind that can lead to more Tirunelvelis.