By P Krishnaswamy
19 Feb 2010 02:41:00 AM IST
Barbershop, ironing cart for Dalits set up
VIRUDHUNAGAR: District Collector Sigy Thomas Vaidyan, who assured the
Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that she would take action to
end the discrimination against Dalits by the washermen and barbers of
Irunchirai village, near Thiruchuzhi in the district, has ended this
form of untouchability.
Irunchirai was in the news last year when S Gurusamy of the village
filed a petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court
alleging that the Dalits of the village were subjected to various
forms of ill treatment by caste Hindus.
He had said that barbers refused to cut their hair and washermen
refused to iron their clothes, saying that they would be ostracised by
the majority community if they performed these tasks for the Dalits.
On the directions of the Bench, a revenue officer and the Inspector
General of Social Justice and Human Rights visited the village and
conducted inquiries. While the IG reported that there was no
discrimination against Dalits, the revenue officer had stated he had
been told that 22 Dalit families were ostracised.
When these reports were filed, the court directed Vaidyan to visit the
village. Vaidyan studied the situation and submitted a report.
She said that S Shanmugaraj of Ramanathapuram district had offered to
serve all communities in the village, while M Muthumari, also of
Ramanathapuram, had come to wash and iron the clothes of the Dalits as
well as other communities. The Collector had provided the necessary
equipment and facilities to the barber and the washerman with
donations.
A barbershop and a washerman's cart were inaugurated in the village
last week. The barbershop has been named as Thanthai Periyar Memorial
Saloon and the ironing cart, the Thanthai Periyar Washermen's Cart.
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