MADURAI : For around 100 Dalit families of Sanampatti, a village along Madurai-Dindigul highway near Vadipatti, the right to a decent burial is still a distant dream as no land has been earmarked for them to use for burial and cremation.
While the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) asserted its ownership over a small patch of land outside the village along Vadipatti main road that was traditionally used by the Dalit families as burial ground, Madurai district administration is yet to provide an alternative land.
The Dalits, belonging to a particular sub-caste, are unwilling to use the common burial-cum-cremation ground inside the village, which is used by caste Hindus and a few Dalit families of other sub-castes.
“Caste Hindus say they have always used the burial ground outside the village and the tradition cannot be changed. The Dalits also do not want to use that place as it may affect the already fragile social harmony in the village,” said G. Seeni Raja, councillor of Vadipatti town panchayat representing Sanampatti (ward 15).
Though these Dalit families had been reportedly using the land along the Vadipatti main road as burial ground for generations, the issue started when Mr. Seeni Raja, a Dalit, prepared to provide some basic amenities at the place through the town panchayat a few months ago.
“We needed a hand pump to fetch water for performing the last rites and a shelter. As soon as the work was started, a person owning an adjacent piece of land petitioned revenue officials and intimated the NHAI,” he said.
Work stopped
The NHAI authorities stopped the work. On October 7, when A. Sangiliammal (60) belonging to the Dalit community died, the Dalit families staged a protest demanding a permanent solution. Police and revenue officials pacified them and allowed the body to be buried at the same place.
Acknowledging the need for a separate burial ground, an official from the Vadipatti town panchayat said that even underground telephone cables were running through the present burial site.
Vadipatti Tahsildar R. Thirumalai said that the government had identified a few places and a site would soon be finalised and provided to the Dalits.
