The article “Why have we banished our own brethren?” (March 25) was thought-provoking. A practice that has existed for thousands of years cannot vanish in 65 years. Mahatma Gandhi's words “untouchability is a crime” is published in the first page of all school textbooks. The next generation will definitely forget the caste system.
Dalits today are walking shoulder to shoulder with caste Hindus, as there has been a visible improvement in their educational and economic status. There is no discrimination in cities. Society is changing but slowly. We hope the caste system will eventually vanish.
Ravi Subramanyam Iyer, Chennai
Priyadarshini deserves praise for boldly recording her sense of humiliation on being “identified” in public space on the basis of her caste (“We are an independent nation, enslaved by caste!”). Caste oppression is centuries-old and the denial of its prevalence hurts more than the oppression itself. Three years ago, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front undertook a survey and came out with a startling list of over 80 forms of untouchability. It included a ban on walking on the road, wearing chappals, wearing towels on the shoulder and so. The two-tumbler system is still in vogue in village tea stalls across the State. Drawing water from a common well is prohibited.
S.V. Venugopalan, Chennai
I would like to add two more instances of caste discrimination which I witnessed in my village. Dalits have their own territory and are not allowed to attend marriage banquets. They come at the end to collect the remains without being noticed by the so-called upper castes. Young Dalits are called only to dig graves in the cemetery and they move away before the body is brought to the graveyard. We remain in the same ditch even while a fertile river flows by.
P. Salamon Raja, Chennai
The articles by Shura Darapuri, Priyadarshini and Christal Jeya were superb. Even today, the two-tumbler system is followed in many villages. Scavengers clean night soil with their hands. Even in institutions like the IIT, there is caste discrimination among students. If you go to Madurai and colleges in other southern districts of Tamil Nadu, you will find separate canteens. All of us are aware of such practices but remain mute spectators.
Ibnu Mohamed, Coimbatore
