Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

DYFI to organise fast on Uthapuram issue

MADURAI: The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is to organise a fast here on November 5 to highlight various demands of Dalits of Uthapuram village.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, S. Kannan, State secretary, alleged that caste Hindus continued to prevent Dalits from using the common pathway that had been thrown open on the intervention of the State Government.

A portion of a wall that separated Dalit dwellings from that of caste Hindus blocked this pathway.

He said no action had been initiated under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against those who indulged in violence against Dalits in the village.

The fast, Mr. Kannan said, was organised to call for immediate steps to restore the use of common pathway, release of arrested Dalits and withdrawal of cases against them.

He recalled that the DYFI withdrew its agitation against the flow of a drain into the area occupied by Dalits on the assurance given by Revenue officials at a meeting held on September 15 that a new drain would be laid away from residential areas in a month’s time. So far, no work had been initiated in this direction except a survey. The government, he alleged, was adopting a biased approach in the issue and urged the administration to facilitate peaceful living for Dalits.

The DYFI leader said that the proposed fast would be the first of a series of agitations to focus the plight of Dalits in southern districts.

He alleged that three Dalit youth were brutally attacked at Arivithi village in Tiruvadanai taluk of Ramanathapuram district and one of the victims was now undergoing treatment at Government Rajaji Hospital here after he lost the ability to speak.

An agitation would soon be held at Tiruvadanai to highlight the attack. He said untouchability manifested itself in different forms and even in urban areas Dalits were not given houses on rent.

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