A team of Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLAs and an MP has blamed the November 7 attack by caste Hindus on three Dalit colonies in Dharmapuri on a host of factors, including intelligence failure and the authorities not cracking down on kangaroo courts.
Coimbatore MP P.R. Natarjan, MLAs K. Balakrishnan (Chidambaram), P. Dillibabu (Harur) and K. Beemrao (Maduravoyal) visited the colonies and consoled the affected people on Saturday. They distributed mats, rice and other materials worth Rs. 2.5 lakh to the affected families.
They told reporters that the attack could not be prevented because of the total failure of the intelligence. They alleged that an inflammatory speech by PMK leader J. Guru a month ago at a public meeting in Naikkankottai encouraged caste Hindus to indulge in violence against the Dalits. The team referred to the allegation that a kangaroo court ordered that the marriage of the Dalit youth with the caste Hindu girl be called off.
The attack seemed to have been well-organised. Hence, the police should take action against those responsible under the SCs/ STs (Prevention of Crime) Act.
The Government should build new houses for the affected families. The exact loss they suffered should be calculated and appropriate compensation should be given. Adequate police protection also should be provided. The children should be provided with books, uniforms and the certificates they had lost in the fire. Families should be issued fresh ration cards as these too were destroyed.
The CPI (M) would submit its report on the visit and assessment of damage to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa soon.
Office-bearers of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front were part of the team.
