Chennai:
50 Dalit families in Velayuthapuram who were all set to be integrated with the rest of their village in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district have got partial relief this evening. The 30 feet long, eight feet high fence that had been erected by the upper caste Rettiars to cordon off this colony of poor workers, six years ago "has not been removed", as expected this evening, by the All India Christian Council, an NGO working in the area, Rajesh Das, Inspector General Of Police (South Zone) Tamil Nadu, told NDTV. But the Dalits can instead use a thoroughfare near the fence.
A few discriminatory practices adopted by the upper caste Rettiars against the Dalits have been stopped. "The Dalits can pass through the Rettiar owned areas on cycles and walk with chappals and their dhotis folded, if they choose to" says Dr James Sugumar, Executive Committee Member of the All India Christian Council.
The fence had been erected by the Rettiars to cordon off this colony of poor workers, six years ago. The Rettiars wanted wreak vengeance on the workers for complaining to the police of ill treatment while working on their agricultural lands and discrimination during the local temple festivals. As a result, the police had arrested about ten Rettiars under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. For a few months, the All India Christian Council has been trying to broker a peace agreement between the Rettiars and the Dalits.
Out of the thousand houses in this village, 50 had been isolated from 2006. The Dalits had to live with just one toilet, that too reserved for women. The water pipes had been broken and tankers supplied water only twice a week. Dr Sugumar says the Rettiars have "agreed to have the water pipes repaired and the regular water supply restored as well as increasing the number of electrical posts."
The Rettiars also employed labourers from neighbouring villages to work on their agricultural land. So the Dalits have had to travel out of the village, often upto 30 kilometres to get jobs in matchbox factories in Kovilpatti or on paddy, groundnut and corn fields in other villages. There is no word on this discrimination. The NGO working in the area says more talks will be conducted to ensure that "every form of discrimination is ended."
It may be recalled that in Southern Tamil Nadu, in Uthapuram, on the outskirts of Madurai, a portion of a 600 feet wall built by upper caste Hindus had been broken by the Tamil Nadu Government in May, 2008, after reports of sewage from the colony of caste Hindus getting mixed with the drinking water line of the Dalits. The CPI(M) spearheaded an agitation and the Tamil Nadu Government was forced to intervene.