“It is the caste-based political leaders who don’t want us to live together, as they fear that the rumours they spread that Dalit boys are marrying Caste Hindu girls only for wealth will be proved wrong,” said E Illavarasan, the Dalit from Dharmapuri whose marriage with Divya, a Vanniyar, is now on the rocks.
Talking to Express here on Friday, Illavarasan said Divya’s mother Thenmozhi and her relatives were “good persons” and were affectionate towards them. “She (Divya’s mother) wanted us to be together, but some caste-based political leaders don’t want us to live happily. Because, if we live happily, all the rumours that they spread about Dalits boys marrying caste Hindu girls only for money will become false. So they threatened Divya and her mother. I tried to call Divya many times but they switched off their mobile,” he said.
Illavarasan said even after all this, he did not meet VCK leader Thirumavalavan or any other Dalit political leader as he firmly believed that politics should not come in the way of love.
“But political leaders want to make an issue out of this. Still Divya loves me, but some politicians are threatening her. One day she will break all the obstacles and surely come to me,” he added.
Ilavarasan recalled with pain how to save their married life the couple fled to Bangalore and with the help of the police, came to Thoppur and finally settled in Vennampatti of Dharmapuri district. “The dark clouds in our life faded away slowly and soon Divya’s mother joined our family. Everything was going on smoothly, except for the fact that none was ready to give me a job. My family struggled a lot to eke out a living. Divya conceived twice, but aborted,” said Illavarasan, his sorrow evident.
“On June 4 (Tuesday), I was shocked to learn that Divya had left for her maternal home. Now, she says she wants to live with her mother who is not well. I am ready to take care of her mother and Divya knows that very well. But the reason behind all this is cruel politics. Love and life are personal and no one has the right to interfere. But here each and everything is becoming politics,” he rued.