http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Lone-dalit-family-braves-harassment-in-Pattukottai/articleshow/6868341.cms
Lone dalit family braves harassment in Pattukottai
M T Saju, TNN, Nov 4, 2010, 12.35am IST
CHENNAI: O Murugan has been a resident in Bharati Nagar of the
Pattukkottai municipality for 20 years. Unfortunately, Murugan's is
the only dalit family in this remote Thanjavur town. The non-dalits
don't want a dalit living among them. They first asked him to vacate
the house, threatened him and then started dumping garbage on his
premises. Murugan didn't react. With his wife and three children, he
tried to survive, inhaling the foul smell emanating from the garbage
every day. A huge trunk of a tree was soon placed at the entrance to
his house. A social boycott' followed. Of late, the entrance to his
house has been blocked under the guise of road-widening.
"The non-dalits don't want a dalit living in their area. They have
been torturing the family for quite a long time. They want him to
leave the house which he got from his parents. The family is even
facing a social boycott. Nobody will give him a job, and he has to go
out of the village for earning his living. They even placed a garbage
bin in front of his house, which was later removed with the help of
the police," says Satha Sivakumar, president of the TN Adidravida
Munnetra Kazhagam, an organization which fights for the dalit rights
and issues in Pattukottai.
Murugan, 35, has three children, of which the youngest is suffering
from stunted growth. "Due to the social boycott, my husband has to go
to Thanjavur to find a job. Since the town is 48 km from here, he will
come only in the midnight, and will leave early in the morning.
Although we filed a case in the Pattukottai police station, the
harassment still continues. Of late, they have blocked the entrance to
our house by erecting concrete walls in the guise of road-widening,"
says Murugesi, wife of Murugan.
The issue, according to the police, is not new. "Four months ago, we
had picked up a group of non-dalit youth for threatening Murugan. A
case was also filed against them. When Murugan filed another case to
remove the garbage bin, we took action immediately. The bin was
removed. But we have limitations in solving the recent issue because
it comes under the municipality. But yet, we have advised the
authority concerned not to block his entrance," says Pattukottai
deputy SP N Narayanaswami.
Councillor K B Mohan of Pattukottai municipality, however, sees a
political motive behind the harassment. "The non-dalits are troubling
him for quite a long time. The DMK has majority in the municipality.
Since Murugan is an AIADMK supporter, the chairperson won't support
him, he says. What does the chirperson say? "We don't want to create
any trouble to anyone. This is done as part of the road-widening. I
don't know about the other issues," says Priya Ilango, chairperson of
the municipality. "It is immaterial which party Murugan belongs to,
what he needs is the right to live freely and comfortably without
fear," Sivakumar said.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/
No comments:
Post a Comment