In any society with a history of caste oppression and conflict, the slightest provocation can sometimes set off a sequence of deadly attacks and reprisals. Law enforcement officers cannot prevent all acts of provocation, but what they can do is to anticipate and contain the resultant social tensions before they explode. Failure to do this at Paramakudi in Tamil Nadu proved tragic, with the protest by supporters of a Dalit party turning violent and the police opening fire and killing six persons. When a remark scribbled on a wall about Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, who is revered as a reformer and saint by the intermediate caste grouping of Thevars, led to the murder of a Dalit schoolboy, it was clear there was going to be trouble. John Pandian, the leader of the Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, was understandably stopped from entering Paramakudi, but the police were unprepared for the consequences of their action. Opening fire reflexively on an angry group of people armed with nothing more than stones and crude petrol bombs was condemnable. Top police officers will have a lot to answer for before the Inquiry Commission constituted by the State government to inquire into the firing and related incidents.
For decades, certain rural areas in southern Tamil Nadu have been the battleground for ‘caste clashes' in which Dalits have been cruelly targeted by elements within the intermediate caste groupings. Dalits have certainly been at the receiving end of caste oppression — and have had to struggle and sacrifice to win rights to access public spaces, participate in temple rituals, and be free from humiliating casteist practices, which have survived from the feudal era notwithstanding Article 17 of the Constitution outlawing untouchability in all forms. With some heartening exceptions, the police and public officials have been far from even-handed in handling these grievances and demands. Thevars, sections of whom are as economically deprived as Dalits, carry their own resentments. From the time of the Mudukulathur riots in 1957, the triggers of violence have varied but the underlying reason has remained the same — entrenched caste oppression and the revolt against it, particularly by Dalit youth who are becoming increasingly organised by political groups. After a series of clashes in the 1990s, there was a lull for about a decade. The key lesson from the Paramakudi tragedy is that it was wholly avoidable. There would have been no loss of life had the early warning signals been heeded and well-thought-out and proportionate action been taken by the administration. The law enforcers need to be re-educated to change their ways of handling public agitations.
Keywords: Paramakudi firing, untouchability, Dalit issue, Caste clashes, caste oppression
Comments:
The loss of lives in Paramakudi is tragic and perhaps could have been averted. Inter-community harmony and shared well-being is not an area in which any of the political parties, especially the Dravida parties want to contribute. Indeed, for nearly half-century now, they have been actively involved in fragmenting the society into smithereens. Grievances, real and imagined (invented if these cannot be discovered) of a sub-sect (its smallness does not matter) are highlighted, nurtured and blown beyond all proportions. Agonizingly, for the Dravida parties charity begins and ends within their extended homes and families. This abuse appears natural because at the national level, even census is conducted at the caste-level. With such a breeding ground, it is not unnatural for Paramakudi-like tragedy to erupt.
Your editorial sounds good on bad administration of TN Govt handling the dalit issues.will Tn govt stop all the leaders who are going to attend thevar jayanthi in ramanathapuram Dist. Is it not the duty of the govt to protect the precious life and property of all citizens? The govt shd not kill the innocent and unarmed peoples.
What a pathetic situation that the country is in ? While the rest of the country, especially the Tier I cities are progressing as a result of globalization and increased educational opportunities, the rural sectors as backward in their outlook as they were before.
Anti-social elements seek to gain popularity and political standing by taking advantage of such caste based clashes. The oft-repeated punch-lines by the 'progressive' dravidian politicians that caste feelings have been eradicated post 1967 stands nullified due to this incident.
Once there is an intelligence report of a likely riot like situation in a communally sensitive region like Ramanathapuram district , the police force could have planned for graded response measures that involve resorting to crowd dispersal through use of water cannons, lathi charge, firing rubber bullets, firing warning shots and firing with bullets as a last resort. With this approach, the loss of lives and the consequential acrimony could largely have been prevented. Going by the reports and the editorial, one tends to infer that the police infrastructure was restricted to lathis and guns for riot control measures.
While I appreciate your editorial comments, I doubt whether caste clashes will ever end in Tamil Nadu. With Tamil Nadu politics being caste-centric, clashes will continue one way or other. There should be substantial change in the mindset of political parties and resolve to work more for peace and harmony.
Yes, Your editorial is 'meaningful'. Police should have read the early warning signs of 1957.
It is easier said than done. Had the government taken a strict stance and imposed curfew, journalist and critics would have said that it's futile. I fully support the government's action; loss of 7 lives - involved in the embroilment - is sad, but in no way is condemnable since otherwise innocent lives would have been lost. This is totally unacceptable, people who are neither directly nor indirectly involved in the provocation or the subsequent events can never be victimized.
Decrying police action in a sweeping manner will discourage police from taking bold decisions on the spot.Let political parties and caste organisations await out-come of judicial enquiry.
If the society has to become truly egalitarian then the concept of "Indian" should be propagated by responsible media like Hindu and the politicians. We seem to be using caste and religious blocks for votes and organized religious activities while selectively screaming from the roof tops to abandon caste and religious prejudices. At every opportunity some vested interest group, paid news, other trouble mongers constantly remind certain grievances of certain groups (blocks) to keep the caste and religious issues burning - surely they become election issues. Look at all these government agencies to cater to these aggrieved sections. However, everywhere, irrespective of caste or "casteless" religions people are vying with one another for reservations based on caste!! Society is so badly polarized because the caste and religious issues are never allowed to die by dirty politics, yellow journalism, nefarious religious groups for vested interests.
The incident clearly pictures the inability of the state government in tackling the issue and not gearing the police forces to face the situation even before it is erupted.
The editorial is hard on the TN government understandably, but are there any supporting facts or statistics for what the editor calls "continued" oppression? Editorials, that too from a newspaper like Hindu are expected to be more firm on factual basis, rather than resorting to biased thinking. Recently, a independent research agency released a report on the situation of SCs/STs in India; contrary to what's being reported here - their situation has improved dramatically.
Paramakudi police firng provokes more questions than the unfortunate incident is capable of answering. That the caste conflicts persist in our society six decades and a half after attaining independence indicates that the policies we framed and followed are fallacious and fall short of delivering the goods. We orchestrate that our nation is secular. Secularism will not dawn on us by simply embodying the word in our Constitution. Do the so-called defenders of the written magnum opus follow the prestine canons enshrined in it in their true spirit? The answer is an utter negation. The bane of casteism is a deep-rooted malaise in our society. The recurring reports of honour killing from various parts of the country unveils this ugly profile of our society. Secular feelings cannot be promoted by consensus; it should be attained by consensualism. Our leaders are immune to iconoclastic ideas. Why can we not delete the mandatory clause of provision of causte in various application forms?
Let us accept the fact that CASTE is a major factor driving politics in Tamilnadu.It is wrong for Dalits to keep exclusivity. This suggestion applies to certain forward castes also. Exclusivity invariably breeds emotional and physical distance and ultimately leads to enmity. It is time that Tamilnadu (and India as a whole) strives to integrate Dalits &others with the mainstream, rather than keep them separate and use them as Political pawns.We must strive for gradual disappearance of 'CASTE' itself from Indian cultural scene. As far as violence is concerned, Dalits are as violent as others today. Any act of violence should be treated as such - without ascribing to it tags like against dalits, by Dalits, against minorities etc.There is an urgent need to spread non-violence,in words and in deeds,more stridently in Tamilnadu. Unfortunately, Tamilnadu has not produced any non-political icon like Anna Hazare, who can spearhead such non-violent movements against social ills.
The Paramakudi incident could have been averted had the administration had carefully planned. The situation, which everyone thought has improved, is come back again with ugly face.The Government must not hesitate to take action against everyone who was involved in the incident.As your Editorial rightly points out, there are lessons to be learnt from the Paramakudi incident.
You have put in your opinion very courageously this time. Discrimination and inequalities towards the dalits are so prominent that this time the resentment has become a total tragedy. The government can go on having various inquiries and commissions but the death of the seven innocent people, who staged their agitation of social and economic deprivation could have been avoided. Democracy is so gullible that the process has found the bullets of carnage and not the value of interlocution. The government of Jayalalitha could do a lot for the dalits in Tamilnadu who do not even comprise 6% of the population then the mere rhetoric of the DMK government but she has chosen otherwise. This is a very sad incident. People of the land are killed for their differences. It sums that the dalits are living in fear amidst social and economic deprivation. The question is: do they have a right to live? What a shame!
Victims of such clashes often turn to anti-social acts, as the society (represented by the government) was against them. The local politicians or government officials could have mediated and settled the problem. That would have avoided the problem at the root.
I totally agree with the editorial. I am of the view if Thevar Guru pooja is a Government Sponsored Function and the Immanuel Sekaran's Guru Pooja should also be made a Government Sponsored Function. Though Thevar is believed to be a reformer and saint by the intermediate caste grouping of Thevars, every caste has such a belief and a leader for theselves. I don't believe the government is treating the castes on par. I recommend Guru Pooja for every caste would be one soluion or No Guru Pooja allowed for any caste Period.
This is the most perfect time to stop all this memorial services for all caste related leaders, Jayalalitha cannot escape responsibility in fostering casteist tendencies in TN, she along with her close friends openly garland statues of Thevar and take part in their memorials, all this must come to an end. There is strong suspicion in police firing, this could have not happened without some political backing, as the opponents were only throwing stones.
I blame the so called representatives of the downtrodden, rationalists, social doctors and to greater extent the parties which have been ruling the state for decades alternatively. Instead of creating awareness for inter-caste tolerance and harmony, the ex-rulers' vote bank politics only added the fuel. The result is showing up now. Blaming the police is secondary; find out the root cause and solve the problem. Political solution is not going to achieve this anymore. Let respective leaders preferably religious minded and social activists brainstorm to end this menace altogether.
First the Police should have fired in warning shots in the Air after firing Rubber bullets. Even while firing they should do it in knee level. I do not understand how the Police have violated all the norms. Who gave them this authority, they should be brought to books.
Vote bank politics pursued by the politicians is responsible for so many caste and religion based clashes.
The law enforcer's way of managing the crowd has, as pointed in the article, has been a tad too ruthless in the recent past, all over the nation. The firing in the land encroachment agitation in Dhanbad (Jharkhand), the much hyped Ramdev baba incidence (Delhi) and now this, has been some bleak instances of mob handling. There is a need of re-education.
Caste-no-bar inter marriage is the only solution to caste problems, not only in Tamil Nadu but all over India. To all the relatively 'liberal' people commenting on this article: we must ask ourselves if we will accept and allow inter-marriage to happen within our own families, and be open to them. Dissolving caste hatred in India is not something to blame on the politicians alone, it is a duty that begins at home within our own family.
5500 to 15000 plus taxes The entire episode was grossly mishandled by the police and the district administration.. The police firing and loss of lives could have been averted through advance preparation and forecast of communal sensitivity.. The editorial in Hindu is highly appreciable and true..The erring officials should be brought to book and punished well for their act of murder of 7 lives..."can the biggest officials having the degree after their name as IAS and IPS give back the seven lives..." The police has violated all norms while manouver the situation..It is my doubt that we are living in Tamilnadu or Kashmir?.. The police is still torturing the innocent people in and around Paramakudi and Ramnad in the name of 'search operations' by entering into the villages in the midnight and making trouble to children and women..It is nothing but the human rights violation...the state govt is trying to suppress the depressed, innocent, deserted people in the name of "law and order".
Tamil Nadu is relatively a progressive state on any many fronts like education, employment, etc., But the sad thing is that the progress/development is not penetrating into the nuke and corner of the state. let us be optimistic and try to tackle the problem of casteism and other social evils through fair distribution of development. Making people aware of the dirty political games is also very important. spreading sense of brotherhood into our society through innovative means is need of the hour. Instead of blaming the political parities and others why not we ordinary citizens of India take some initiative to bring a change in our society? after all individual initiatives can make wonders.
Caste system has deeply entrenched in our society. Violence and discrimination of different hues unleashed against dalits seemed to be an never an ending phenomenon in the country. Access to public utilities has still remained a elusive dream for our dalit bretherns reflecting the entrenched societal bias and prejudice against them.Whenever dalits try to assert their constitutionally sanctioned rights,violence has been the answer to it.Dalits might have improved their economic and political status with the help of reservation policy, but their social status leaves lot to be desired.Firing against unarmed dalits protestors by the police is reprehensible.Only attiudinal change towards dalits by the upper caste will bring about a era of social justice.
Indeed, law enforcers need to be trained to handle the angry mob demonstrations in a more restrained way. There are many incidents happened lately which exemplify the police's direct jumping to extreme measures, be it firing at Forbesganj in Bihar, Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Hisar in Haryana, or now at Paramkudi in Tamil Nadu.
The neighbouring state of Kerala has eradicated the Caste system successfully. This might have been the biggest benefits of Communism and SREE NARAYANA Guru's social movement. I'm a product of Intercaste Marriage. My Dad hails from Nair Caste, while my mother hails from Ezhava. This was an arranged marriage.
When it came to my own marriage about 14 years back, I chose again an Inter caste arranged marriage system. My wife's Father is a Nair, while her mother is a Roman Catholic Christian. We need to practice the Inter caste marriage consciously rather than creating ghettos in the form of casteism in India. Citizens can themselves be the proactive change rather than politics to create the change for them. The moral of the lesson is leaders NEVER EVER get killed. It is only the foot soldeirs.
@N.Sadasivan See who is commenting to remove caste from various application forms! A Person like you, who cannot remove caste from the suffix of your name & proudly announcing you are a 'Pillai' to the society! why not start reforming from our own homes, by un-caste-ising ourselves - going for inter caste marriages, not announcing our castes in public spheres, not associating with any caste groups/associations... I see no other way to eradicate caste unless we consciously de-caste ourselves!
Firings with real ammunition on the people by police need further scrutiny by the public and civil society. What are the procedures and standards that need to be met before a call is made to open fire on a group of citizens? Are there other crowd control measures than can or must be used before opening fire with real bullets? Why does one NEVER hear of Indian police using water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas etc.? What sort of training is provided to cops in crowd and riot control? Firing bullets into a crowd should be a measure of last resort.
Reading the accounts of this disaster, it is very clear that the police did not anticipate the situation that developed, as result, were unprepared and responded in a haphazard fashion to a volatile situation. In a diverse democracy like India there are bound to be clashes. It is the duty of the police to maintain order and be prepared to do everything possible to defuse situations like this rather than respond with lethal force.
When will India learn to treat Indians as Indians. Why not call poor Dalits as poor Indians and rich Dalits as rich Indians? Why condemn them to be permanently Dalits? Even Speaker Meira Kumar is called Dalit which is shocking to say the least. If she is Dalit naturally her children and grandchildren will claim Quota benefits which becomes logical. This perversion has to stop for sanity to return to India!
looking this incident is a big tragedy to tamilnadu, people life is very precious than caste , politics or anything else , some people still utilising poor people weakness to their own purposes.I feel totally this caste system ,and divisions are totally nonsense , if we continue this one in future is not good for our future generations , people shoud improve their education , wealth and health rather than fighting for caste system.Example state like Kerala - people there are more concentrating on education and improving economic status , moreover we should eradicate our caste system by avoiding groupism on caste name and celebrating functions ,finally end up with fighting each other.if we concerate to improve our education and economic status we will not get time to think of these negative things.
For the past over 6to7 years,the persons belonging to a particular community thronged Paramakudi to pay homage to their icon Sri. Immanuel Sekaran. What has happened to Sri. Immanuel Sekaran 54 years >ago was re enacted now with a difference in the recent Police firing. He was brutally murdered in the after math of a peace meeting held at Paramakudi chaired by the then Ramanathapuram Dt.Collector Mr.Panicker.Unable to digest the parity given to Sri.Immanuel Sekaran in the peace meeting, the rival group had executed the heinous act of murdering this man. Now such an act has been let loose on a crowd which had assembled to pay homage to their leader by the Police themselves killing 3 persons on the spot leaving scores of others injured. The Police is expected to impartial while enforcing law and order and they should not become partisan under any circumstances.No doubt,it has cast a shadow on the Tamil Nadu Police besides displaying their ugly casteist mind set.Fence eating the plants.
In the Hindu Vedas is has never stated there any particular group or clan or race as high or low class.It never stated to discriminate anybody regardless race ,cast, clan. The Vedas was written by Veda Vyasda hence his name his philosophy came to known as "VEDAS".Veda Vyasa was soil born son of a fisher-woman.In the Vedas it clearly states tat no one was born a "bhramana"(bhramin), one becomes a bhramana not born! Like wise one who was born in a sudra family too can become a brahmana. If a person born to sudra family and works as a sudra then he is sudra ! If one born in sudra family and exhibits the qulities of a bhramana ,he should be honoured as a bhramana, its Vedic injunction .Some people are aping around tat they come from googdcaste, let,s look into the reality of this British influenced community!
DUE TO the so called state terrorism, victimsfamily should be given one crore compensation since the revenue from TASMAC is around 15000crores , the downtrodden people's money.Schools Colleges and super speciality hospitals should be built in paramakudi dalit area.State should undertake total rehabilitation measures.Radical POLICE REFORM SHOULD be imlemented by constituting a committee consists of human rights activists ,dalit judges dalit advocates and dalit IAS CADERS to evolve policies to prevent such occurances in future-professor antony cruz postesd on 7th december 2011.