The already fragile National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu is all set to deteriorate further with one of the constituents expressing its displeasure and thinking loudly of possible alternatives.
Puthiya Tamilagam, a Dalit outfit led by Dr K Krishnasamy, which is a prominent partner of the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu may quit the front on its own as the alliance has failed to address an important demand raised by the party. Dr Krishnasamy, a medical doctor-turned-politician wants the Centre and State Governments to remove seven sub sects from the list of Scheduled Caste and elevate them to the status of Other Backward Community (OBC). This is the first of its kind demand in South India where most castes prefer to be designated as SC or Scheduled Tribe to enjoy the benefits of reservation in education and employment.
Dr Krishnasamy, who belongs to the Pallar community is of the view that his caste was designated as scheduled caste erroneously by the then British colonial masters, a mistake which was not rectified by the post-independence governments. He says there are seven such sub sects designated as SC by the colonial government. “We want to save our community from this imposed identity and to reclaim the history of the community,” Dr Krishnasamy told The Pioneer.
The communities Pallar, Kudumbar, Pannadi, Kaaladi, Kadayar, Devendra Kulatar and Vadhiriyar are the communities which were listed as Scheduled Caste communities. “All these communities should be integrated as Devendra Kula Vellalar and re-designated as OBC,” said the doctor.
Quoting from authentic history books, records and archive materials, the doctor says that all these sects and sub sects were land-owning communities. “Our communities were engaged in wet-land farming. The Chola-Chera-Pandya dynasties arose from the Devendra Kulla Vallalar communities. But over a period of time, we came under invasion and all our land were annexed by the aggressors. Thus we lost our position as rulers,” explained Dr Krishnasamy.
He said the community members lost rights to their own land because of a rule enacted during the Chola period. “The Kudi Neeki system introduced by the Chola rulers mandated that those who could not pay taxes would not have any rights on their lands and they were denied even citizenship. The Devendra Kula Vellalar community members who were in dire straits following the loss of their farm lands couldn’t pay taxes and thus ended up as victims of many atrocities perpetrated on them. During the British rule, we were designated as marginalized and poor sections and listed as Scheduled Caste,” he said.
The then leader of the community, Sreenivasan Pillai, wrote to the British authorities in 1927 itself stating that they were culturally and traditionally different from Adi-Dravidar. “The Nadars too had been facing this discrimination. But they took up the matter and travelled to London for meeting the Simon Commission. Since our community had been ruined financially, the leaders could not mobilise money for the London meeting with the Simon Commission,” he said.
He also said that the DKV community was no different from the Thevar community. “Agriculture was the mainstay of DKVs and Thevars. Now what is disturbing us is the discrimination and stigma faced by the community members. Though the Centre and the State Governments had assured us that they would seriously consider our demand, nothing has come off till date,” said Krishnasamy.
What makes the PT leader’s demand unique is that while there is scrambling by many communities in South India to be designated as SC and ST to avail the reservation benefits, no other community has come forward asking that they be de listed from such list. “We have been put in the OBC list only for availing reservation in educational and employment sectors. In real life we are Kshatriyas,” said K Palanisami, a Vanniyar oflandlord from Thiruvannamalai district. The DKV has nine million voters spread across the State and this is a crucial factor in any election to be held in Tamil Nadu.
