Police bid to resolve 60-year-old issue between two communities

Ramanathapuram

Communal harmony had eluded Puliyankudi village in Mudukulathur police limit for more than 60 years as tension broke out whenever a death took place among the Dalits and when they had to pass through the residential area of a dominant community to reach the ‘Oorani’ (waterbody) for performing rituals.

When people of the two communities clashed and pelted stones at each other recently, Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena thought ‘enough was enough’ and wanted to find a permanent solution by finding an alternative route to the oorani, bypassing the residential area of the dominant community.

Adding to the hatred between the two communities was the wall painting of Dalit leader Immanuel Sekaran at Puliaunkudi bus stop – the entrance of road leading to the residential areas of the dominant community.

The panting had been there for more than two decades and tension broke out afresh when Dalits wanted to give it a facelift, ahead of the death anniversary of Sekaran on September 11.

People of the dominant community were grudging against the wall painting as it gave an impression that the whole area was a Dalit colony. And they gave vent to their anger when Dalits, after the death of a woman, recently passed through their area to reach the oorani for taking ‘Neermalai’, a ritual performed before the cremation ceremony.

Four persons, including a policeman, were injured in stone pelting and the police had registered three FIRs, arraigning more than 40 people, including six women each from the two communities as accused in the cases.

After arresting four people, the police launched a hunt for others when people of the two communities deserted the village and absconded, police said.

The SP said the problem had been there since 1957 as the people of the dominant community would not allow Dalits to use the thoroughfare, citing presence of a temple. The Dalits were allowed to take a diversion on a patta land, thus avoiding the temple but the problem persisted, he said.

The police had erased the wall painting and removed all hoardings and flex boards installed in the village by the two and other communities in a bid to restore normalcy, the SP said. The police were working towards finding a permanent solution to the vexatious issue, he added.