The Madras High Court Bench here on Monday directed the Revenue Secretary to consider a representation made by an association of people belonging to Devendrakula Velalar community to desist from declaring Kamuthi the headquarters if there was any proposal to create a new district by bifurcating Ramanathapuram.
A Division Bench of Justices A. Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan passed the order on a public interest litigation petition filed by Madurai District Devendrakula Velalar Uravinmurai, represented by its president C. Selvakumar, who claimed that Maravars were a dominant caste group in Kamuthi, and hence it should not be the headquarters of the new district.
Although the Special Government Pleader M. Govindan contended that there was “no official proposal” to bifurcate Ramanathapuram and contended that the representation made by the petitioner on December 8 on the basis of a Tamil newspaper report was vague, the judges said the government was duty-bound to dispose of the representation.
Strained relationship
In his representation, the petitioner said the relationship between the people belonging to his caste and Maravars remained strained since the 1957 Ramnad riots, which led to the death of more than 100 people.
Since then, the people belonging to dominant castes in villages in and around Ramanathapuram had forced the minorities to leave their native places.
Stating that he had learnt that there was a plan to add Tiruchuli taluk in Virudhunagar district also to the proposed new district with Kamuthi as its headquarters, the petitioner said such a move would cause great harm and inconvenience to Dalits residing in many villages, including Palappacheri, in Tiruchuli taluk.
