An eerie silence prevails over the Tamil-speaking Ambedkar Colony on the Kerala border here, a fortnight since its Dalit residents complained of untouchability practised by caste Hindus of the neighbourhood.
All the male members of the Chakkliya families in the colony are sleeping on the premises of the local temple fearing attacks from Goundars and Ezhavas. The Chakkliya women sleep together in houses located close to the temple.
Though the district authorities and the police have assured the families that their concerns will be addressed, the Dalits are still fearful of attacks from caste Hindus.
Now, the families are waiting for the conciliatory meeting convened by the District Collector on Thursday. “We have been camping on the premises of this temple since May 27 when the upper caste people knocked on our doors after midnight,” said 60-year-old Kannammal, mother of three daughters. There was an altercation between the communities on May 27 over the marriage of a Chakkliya girl and an Ezhava boy.
“The police intervened and the marriage was solemnised in their presence. However, the officials agreed to the demand of upper caste people that the husband and wife be kept apart in their own houses for another six months, and that too without any communication. The arrangement is to facilitate a same-caste marriage for the sister of the Ezhava youth,” says Mariyappan Neelippara, a tribal resident said.
“If the police had treated it as a law and order issue and allowed the husband and wife to live together, the situation would not have worsened,” he said.
