For Ganesh, speaking to his first cousin is a costly affair — one that would attract a fine of Rs.2,000. So, the two young men, living just 10 metres apart, sneak up after dark to meet their uncles and aunts. About 11 km from Krishnagiri at Thavalam village of Kangaleri Panchayat, an Adi Dravidar colony is run by the writ of ‘muri and thappu’ — a coercive practice of ostracising families and forbidding interaction by a fine of Rs.10,000 — performed by breaking a broom stick.
“He already paid a fine once,” giggled Ashok, his cousin. Ashok belongs to one of the six households ostracised by the ‘ooru panchayat’ — an extra legal community run by a handful of men and headed by the ‘maniyakarar’ (village headman). In this colony of 30 households of Kannada speaking Adi Dravidars, a son has been forbidden from talking to his parents and his sister; a father had to pay a fine of Rs.10,000 for accepting his daughter who had eloped and married a boy from the same Adi Dravidar sub caste; and a family was forbidden from receiving the ostracised families for a bereavement in the household.
“A fortnight ago, I was summoned to the ‘ooru panchayat’ and forced to place a ‘muri’ of Rs.10,000 (practice of breaking a broom stick that amounts to an undertaking that the oral writ of the community panchayat will prevail or pay a fine) after they found me talking to my relatives,” said Ganesh.
According to Pavizham, it was all hushed up. “Our families were not summoned. But, slowly, people stopped talking and that was when we realised that our families were placed under ‘muri.’ We went to the village headman to ask what wrong had we done. But, he refused to talk to us,” Pavizham said.
Three years ago, Ashok’s father-in-law had to pay a ‘thappu’ of Rs.10,000, when he accepted his daughter, who eloped to marry a person. Any perceived insubordination would bring out the broom stick here. One family was first ostracised, and others followed for breaking the ‘muri’ by talking to them. “It is an unspoken-unwritten norm. When my uncle’s mother died recently, the bereaved family was warned not to allow us inside to see the body.”
When The Hindu visited the house of ‘maniyakarar’ T. Thimmaraj, (name not changed) he said, “the practice of ‘muri’ and ‘ooru kattupadu’ (community control) has always existed from the time of our forefathers. We cannot be forced to talk to people we don’t like. It is not like we have disconnected water supply and power supply to those houses.”
When asked if this wasn’t coercion, he said that even police ask them to settle things at the ‘ooru panchayat’ before making a complaint.
According to writer Aadhavan Deetchanya, it is a common practice to enforce collective discipline and punishment. The use of stick has a certain symbolism for some communities. Like Irulars, crossing over a stick amounts to marriage. Here, breaking it symbolically means ending a relationship. This was one of B.R. Ambedkar’s main contentions with Mahatma Gandhi on caste.
“Caste becomes the tool of oppression at the village level by its assumption of judicial and magisterial powers,” said Mr. Deetchanya.
When contacted, Collector T.P. Rajesh said, “Excommunication of one community by another or of an economically powerless group by a powerful group within the same community is illegal. I will depute the assistant director of Adi Dravidar Welfare Department to look into the matter and ensure that action is taken.”
For now, here at Thavalam, a broken broom stick wields the strength of a writ, wreaking havoc in families.
(Names changed to protect identity)
Adi Dravidar colony is run by the writ of ‘muri and thappu’ at Thavalam village in Krishnagiri district
