 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Dec 13, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
DISTRESSED: A section of the villagers of Panthapuli near Shankarankoil at Yettiserry hillock on Friday. TIRUNELVELI: Members of 200 families of Panthapuli village left their hamlet and settled down on the foothills of nearby Yettiserry hillock on Friday protesting the “politicisation of a temple issue” and demanding the shifting of police and revenue officials, “who support the Dalits in the dispute over administration of the place of worship.” As Dalits of this hamlet near Karivalamvanthanallur on the Tirunelveli- Rajapalayam highway were denied entry into the Kannanallur Mariamman Temple for the past several years, they approached the court, which gave a verdict in favour of the petitioners. However, the respondents (caste Hindus) filed an appeal against the directive of the lower court and refused to allow the Dalits inside the temple to offer prayers even as the district administration was taking steps to execute the lower court’s order. After several rounds of talks mediated by revenue officials between the two groups failed to make any headway, the Dalits left their village. They settled down at Kaarisaaththaan hillock near their hamlet on October 28. However, they returned to Panthapuli village on the third day following assurance from the District Revenue Officer G. Srinivasan that the basic rights of the Dalits would be ensured and the revenue and police officials, who supported the “unjust” demands of the “upper castes,” shifted. Against this backdrop, the recent announcement by Communist Party of India (Marxist) that the party’s State secretary N. Varadharajan would enter the temple along with the Dalits on December 17 triggered tension again in the village. The peace meeting convened by District Collector G. Prakash at the Collectorate on Friday, which was attended by representatives of CPI (M), Dalits and other communities, failed to arrive at an amicable solution. Even before this meeting started, “upper caste” families of Panthapuli, comprising 100 students and as many cattle, left their homes around 7.30 a.m. and moved to the Yettiserry hillock, four km away from the village.
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