Thursday, Feb 13, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By S. Dorairaj
N. Rangasamy, an Irular of Siruvalai in Villupuram district, explains how he was chained by a brick kiln owner.
Rangasamy, 50, a farm worker, still shudders at the memory of the treatment meted out to him. The victim, who looked old and frail, was virtually held hostage by the owner of a brick kiln at Pananguppam near Koliyanur on January 30, as his son-in-law, C. Sankar, had stopped working there since last month allegedly without clearing a of Rs. 22,000-loan. Rangasamy said the owner, E.Mani, along with another person, came to the remote village on a moped and forcibly took him to Pananguppam, even as his wife and other relatives were watching helplessly. Throughout the 20-km route, he was hit in the face and neck, was showered with abuses. At the brick unit, the owner chained him to a pillar with two locks. Mani told Rangasamy's son and others that he would release him only if they undertook in writing the responsibility for loan repayment. For nearly six hours, the fettered Rangasamy was made to starve. He was not even allowed to answer the call of nature. Around 8 p.m., he was shifted to Mani's residence, where also the farm worker was chained but the only solace was that he was offered some idlis. As news reached the Pazhangudi Irular Padhukappu Sangam (PIPS) around 10.30 p.m., the police were informed at 1 a.m. on January 31. The Valavanur police caught the accused `red-handed' around 2 a.m. even as the chained `hostage' was lying on the veranda. The police, who ended Rangasamy's 19-hour ordeal, also arrested Mani under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, apart from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989. The human rights activist and PIPS coordinator, P. Kalyani, said the incident only underscored the need for retention of the Act to protect the downtrodden, though some caste outfits had been demanding that it be scrapped forthwith.
'Liberation not easy'
M. Nagarajan, district youth wing secretary, PIPS, said 75 per cent of the over 55,000-Irular population in the composite South Arcot was working in brick units at Chengalpattu, Chennai, Erode, Namakkal and Dindigul, besides migrating to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In the brick-making process, moulding was a tedious task and a couple could finish only 1,000-1,500 pieces after a gruelling 16-hour session, said one K. Ezhumalai. The Irular couples were allowed to work on the kilns through agents, who disbursed loans ranging from Rs.7,000 to 10,000 a couple after obtaining their signature, in most cases thumb impressions, on plain stamp papers. Normally the loan was given on Deepavali-eve on condition that the couples leave the units only after settling the dues. Though a daily wage ranging from Rs.100 to 140 per 1,000 bricks was offered, the workers could never liberate themselves from bondage, getting a paltry `take-home wage' of about Rs.60 per couple, after deductions against the loans, said M. Harikrishnan, chief of the Kedar camp unit of the PIPS.
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