“Most of us are left with only one set of clothes. We live on the streets. We are now as good as walking corpses.” Those words from Rama, a resident of Kondampatti village in Dharmapuri, summed up the situation that the victims of the recent attack on Dalit colonies in Dharmapuri were facing.
Women who bore the brunt of the attack by caste Hindus opened their hearts out before a panel constituted by the Women’s Coalition for Change (WCC) a few days ago.
Violence and arson, which saw 268 houses, 50 two-wheelers and four vans going up in flames, rocked Naickenkottai village and its surrounding areas in Dharmapuri district in the first week of November after a villager, Nagaraj, committed suicide. Nagaraj allegedly took the extreme step as he felt that his daughter Divya had brought dishonour to the family and more importantly to his Vanniyar caste by marrying a Dalit youth.
It is said that he was facing intense pressure from the community after Divya tied the knot with Ilavarsu of the same village on October 14. Both families had been opposing the marriage after they came to know that the two were in love.
So, expecting violent hostility from the community, the couple had met the Salem Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sanjay Kumar, and sought protection. Even as the police was trying to work out a compromise with the families, Nagaraj killed himself, triggering violence.
Of course, police swung into action by posting the heavy contingent of armed personnel in the riot-hit areas and arrested 90 arsonists, who also allegedly indulged in looting of cash and jewels in the houses they ransacked and set on fire. On November 9, Vanniyars went on the rampage in the colonies of Scheduled Caste people in Natham Colony, Thondampatti and Anna Nagar and also threw fire crackers at those who were escape from the burning houses and the next day Dalits retaliated, setting fire to a few houses of Vanniyars.
Though various caste Hindu communities have been traditionally resenting and resisting inter-caste marriages, particularly if one of their boys or girls married a Dalit, and has even gone to the extent of killing the couple or one of them, rarely has such a nuptial led to organised arson and violence. While the locals tried to justify the anger of Vanniyars stating that a man had to end his life because of the marriage, it is widely believed that frequent rhetoric on caste pride by the leaders of parties that mobilise votes in the name of caste could be the cause for increased intolerance among the people. Since Nagaraj was a Vanniyar, the popular assumption was that the recent speeches by some leaders of the PMK openly exhorting the community people not to allow inter-caste marriages could be a reason for his frustration. It is also said that the community has been collectively taking a hard stand against young people falling in love and inter-caste unions, inspired by the harangues of PMK leaders.