People of Kalathur village in Arakkonam taluk of Vellore district, who were allegedly subjected to ruthless police attack and arrests, assembled in front of the Bajanai temple in the village for the second day on Saturday, and cooked their meal in common.
The small village of 350 Dalit families is fighting for several months against the plan to set up a sand quarry in the Palar River near their village.
About 200 villagers arrived near the Collectorate on Thursday to demonstrate seeking release of 19 villagers already in prison in another case. They were subjected to attack and abuse before they were arrested and lodged in a marriage hall. Later in the midnight police transported them back to their village where police attack allegedly continued. Nearly 19 villagers were again arrested and six women among them were released later.
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Enraged by police action and fearing further raids, villagers assembled in front of the Bajanai temple in the village and stay put there on Friday. According to Thamizh, one of the villagers participating in protests, they went home in the night but came back to temple again in the morning and staying put there since then, cooked their food in common there.
Mahesh of Makkal Mandram, an organisation supporting protesting villagers said, “they sit there in protest demanding release of all those arrested, withdrawal of cases foisted against them, giving up of the plan to set up a sand quarry near the village.”