The caste divide has assumed rather dangerous proportions in the politics of Tamil Nadu and the State’s social system. It needs to be checked
E Ilavarasan, the 19-year-old youth who committed suicide by jumping in front of the Coimbatore-Kurla Express on Thursday, is being projected by the human rights industry as a martyr who made the supreme sacrifice at the altar of inter-caste marriage. The elopement of Divya, a Vanniyar girl, and Ilavarsan, a Dalit, and the repercussions in the form of riots is not the first-of-its-kind incident in Tamil Nadu. Even a school going-student in the State is aware that the Tamil Nadu is sitting on a communal tinder box.
While much tears have been shed for Ilavarasan by the liberals and the ‘secular’ media, what went unnoticed was the suicide of Divya’s father, 49-year-old Nagarajan. It is said that Nagarajan was humiliated by the relatives and friends of Ilavarasan when he went to search of his daughter.
A prominent leader of the CPI(M)-sponsored women's organisation has come out openly criticising those opposing inter-caste marriages. She herself is a victim of a failed inter-caste marriage. Before elaborating on the pros and cons of inter-caste marriages, one should not fail to note the ground realities in Tamil Nadu which have arrayed the Dalits against the upper castes. Hardly 200km away from the capital city of Chennai, shops serve tea in separate glasses for Dalits and upper caste Hindus. This is not confined to one or two districts, but is prevalent in the entire State. The two-tumbler system is the sum total of uninterrupted Dravidian rule in the State since 1967.
The Dravidian political movement flourished based on community lines. Instead of enlightening the people that they are all one and religion is just a mean to reach salvation, Dravidian ideologues poisoned the minds of the people by ridiculing everything that is Hindu. Since politicians are known for their intelligence, they focussed their attacks only on Hindu religion. The secularists were afraid to question Christian and Islamic practices. The DMK went to town and unleashed a plethora of lies telling the people that the Dravidians were backward and downtrodden people while the Aryans in the north were Brahmins and aggressors.
The likes of Mr M Karunanidhi flourished because of the anti-Hindu campaign. The Dalits were told not to be friends with upper caste Hindus. This led to Dalit outfits launching campaigns like Maravane Vettu, Maravathiye Kettu (Kill the Maravan and kidnap his woman). Maravans are a forward community in Tamil Nadu. The western regions of the State echoed with slogans like Gowndare Vettu, Gowndathiye Kettu (Kill the Gowndar and kidnap his woman). This created tension in the socio-religious life in Tamil Nadu.
Be it in Madurai, Cuddalore or Virudhunagar, Dalit panchayat presidents are not allowed to function. Karuppan Perumal, the soldier-turned-panchayat president of Kadaneri panchayat in Madurai district, is not allowed to sit on the chair meant for the president. The panchayat secretary does not allow him to enter the panchayat office since he is a Dalit. Mr Perumal, a former havildar who drove Vaijayantha Tanks in the Fifth Armoured Regiment, says life on the western border of the country was more thrilling and happier than what he is experiencing in Kadaneri. Nearly 98 per cent of the 3,136 panchayats in Tamil Nadu suffer the humiliation silently.
In Madurai, Professor V Pugazhendi, head of the Department of Orthopaedics Surgery in a medical institute, is fighting against his colleagues and subordinates for dignity. There have been many instances when caste Hindus in his department have ganged up against him because he opposed their private practice during office hours. People in need of medical emergency do not ask him his caste and religion. But when they have recovered from the trauma, they keep him at an arm's length because of his Dalit background. If Prof Pugalendhi, a brilliant doctor, faces this kind of ill-treatment at the hands of other doctors and patients, one can only imagine what is in store for ordinary people. Though scientific research has proved beyond doubt that there never was any Aryan-Dravidian divide and people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in the sub-continent have the same DNA structure, the DMK and other Tamil chauvinist groups find it difficult to swallow. Unless these problems are addressed effectively, it is impossible for the likes of Ilavarsan and Divya to survive in Tamil Nadu.