Law sought to curb hate speeches against inter-caste marriages

Plan to organise national-level meet in July last or early August

Democratic forces, Dalit parties, prominent writers and social activists in Tamil Nadu have planned a national-level conference in the last week of July or early August to demand a ‘comprehensive law to curb honour killings and hate speeches against inter-caste marriages.’ A discussion meeting was held to this effect in Chennai on Tuesday.

Puthiya Tamilagam founder president K. Krishnasamy told The Hindu on Wednesday that though honour killings were a phenomenon which was prevalent not only in Tamil Nadu but across the country, what was disturbing was that in Tamil Nadu, there was a systematic propaganda carried out openly against inter-caste marriages by political parties and a few organisations. He said honour killings happened more in cases where one among the inter-caste couple belonged to a Scheduled Caste community. The married couple in these cases were either forced to kill themselves or were murdered.

Talking to

The Hindu on Wednesday, writer A. Marx, who participated in the discussion, said in the case of Ilavarasan’s death, going beyond the fact that whether it was a suicide or murder, the series of events that led to his death were important. The one-man judicial enquiry commission should not confine itself to probing whether it was a murder or suicide, but should come out with a detailed analysis of problems which led to such a situation and inter-caste marriage discourse much on the lines of the J.S.Verma Committee against sexual violence.