THENI: The untouchability issue is still simmering at Uthapuram in Theni constituency. The issue came into focus last year because of its infamous untouchability wall.
When a team from The New Indian Express visited the village to check on their present political stand, as candidates of various political parties had already started their constituency tours for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, both the Dalit and Thevar sections of the village expressed strong views.
“Though we speak about the constitution of the country which ensures religious equality and is dedicated to abolishing any kind of untouchability from the land, our politics, government, bureaucracy and all other systems are deeply rooted in contempt towards the lower castes,’’ said Ponniah, a Dalit ex- serviceman from the village.
“The rest of the world had interpreted the 600 m long wall as the untouchability wall of the village but the original one is the compound wall of Muthala Mariamman temple, which the Thevars built after the 1989 riot. We are not allowed to have tea in the teashops with them, use the same saloon they use and cannot enter their streets also. If we enter their streets for some reason, they won’t allow us to use slippers,” he said.
The Dalit people said they wanted the temple wall and the other one, demolished entirely so that they could move around freely. They expressed their support for the CPIM, which was the only party that helped sort out their problems. “When AIADMK candidate Thangathamilselvan comes for campaigning in the village, we will raise our demands to him and hopefully, with the help of CPIM, he would rectify all our grievances,” they said.
The Thevar section, on the other hand, is full of contempt for the CPIM, accusing them of spreading communalism in the area.
“We don’t practice communalism here though we don’t pray, eat, shave or bath in the same place as them,’’ said Raja, a Thevar community member. “It is the tradition of the village since the 1989 riot and we don’t call it untouchability. All the parties and governmental agencies were in a hurry to protect the Dalits without even giving us an opportunity to explain our stand,” he added.
When asked about the community’s election stand, he said that they were not ready to believe any of the political parties. “Our leader, Murugesan, a chartered accountant working in Tirupur who has been guiding the Thevar community of the area for the last one year, will contest in the election as an independent candidate,’’ Raja said.
Later, Murugesan told Express that he has the support of the All India Forward Bloc and Puthiya Neethi Katchi. Functionaries of many political parties who are of Thevar community have expressed their willingness to resign their positions in order to work for me, he said. He claimed support from Thevar people in 164 villages including Bodi, Chinnamannoor and Cumbum.