Hindus have become unsafe in Tamil Nadu, according to S Ramdoss, founder, Pattali Makkal Katchi, a political outfit of the Vanniyar community. Addressing reporters here on Monday, Ramdoss recounted the experience of a 25-year-old woman who complained to Chengalpettu Police about a group of inebriated youth attacking her father, a temple priest, on March 31 which resulted in his death.
“The girl Padmasree questioned the youth, who were from VCK, a political party of Dalits led by Thirumavalavan, when they attacked her father. She and her father were beaten up with iron rods by the Dalits. While Padmasree escaped with injuries, Raman, her father, died within hours,” said Ramdoss.
He said the police officer blamed Padmasree for the death of her father. “The woman should have just ignored the behaviour of the drunken men. She argued with them when they tried to scare her niece and abused her. Had she calmly walked past, her father would have been alive today,” the police officer is reported to have told mediapersons who quizzed him about the incident.
The police officer is reported to have told the media that the woman Padmasree was fair and pretty, an M Com graduate who seemed sensible. But she did not use her common sense. What was the need for her to argue with those men,” asked the police officer.
According to Ramdoss, the gruesome murder of Raman is yet another proof of atrocities carried out by Dalits on Hindus. “Hindu girls are kidnapped by the hoodlums belonging to the VCK. The latest incident has come from Namakkal where a young Hindu girl was kidnapped by the VCK cadre for a ransom of `10 crore,” said Ramdoss. “The kangaroo courts presided over by the local VCK chieftain decides on the ransom,” he said.
The Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 comes in handy for the Dalits, said the PMK leader. “Even if the Hindus are attacked by the Dalits, the police register cases against the former,” he said.
Ramdoss had convened the meeting to recount last Friday’s incidents along the East Coast Road which saw police firing in the air to disperse group of workers belonging to the PMK the VCK. “The PMK activists were on their way to Mahabalipuram to take part in the Chitra Pournami festival organised by the party. The VCK workers blocked the vehicles which were on their way to Mahabalipuram and attacked the PMK cadre which resulted in the dearth of two Vanniyar youth. We demand a probe either by the CB-CID or the CBI. Our only request is to ensure neutrality, the probe should be under the leadership of a non-Vanniyar and non-Dalit officer,” he said.
The PMK founder had come under attack from the secular and left parties for his reported comments about love marriages. Ramdoss said Dalit youth, masquerading as Romeos trap girls from Hindu families enacting a love drama and kidnap them for a ransom. last two years saw more than 2,000 such incidents,” he said.