People of Arunthathiyar community, which comes under Scheduled Caste, have alleged that Manuvadis of Thottiya Nayakkar caste have built this wall. They allege that this wall has been built to stop the movement of Dalits. Dalit society has called it 'wall of untouchability'. The question is also whether any community can build a wall on any government land? The silence of the local administration on this question has put it under question.
Karur, Tamil Nadu. Manuvadis have built a 200 feet long and 10 feet high wall in a village. It is alleged that this wall has been built so that Dalits of the village can be stopped from going to the areas of Thottiya Nayakkar. People of Dalit society are calling this wall a wall of untouchability. The matter is of Karur district of Tamil Nadu. The matter has heated up due to this wall built in Muthuladampatti village of the district. People of the Arunthathiyar community, which comes under the Scheduled Caste, have alleged that Hindus of the Thottiya Nayakar caste have built this wall. They allege that this wall has been built to stop the movement of Dalits. The Dalit community has called it a ‘wall of untouchability’.
The special thing is that this wall has been built on government-owned public land and it is located just one kilometer away from the Karur Collector’s office. According to the report of “The Hindu”, Dalits say that when they came to know about the construction of the wall, they complained about it to the revenue officials. The village administrative officer of Thanthoni village inspected the spot and verbally asked the Thottiya community to stop the work, but they ignored these instructions and completed the construction of the wall quickly.
Seeing the matter escalating and after the protest of the Dalit community, officials of the Revenue and Police Department had to intervene. However, despite two meetings held on July 13 and July 29, no solution has been found.
57-year-old P. Marudhai, who belongs to the Dalit community, said, “This wall is a symbol of isolating us in our own village. This is outright caste discrimination and a way to humiliate us.” They allege that the Manuvadi people do not allow them to use the public ‘drama stage’ during temple festivals, even when they want to build a separate stage or toilet for themselves, they are stopped. According to the report, 50-year-old S. Duraiasamy said, “We are forced to go to the Manuvadi areas without slippers. If we go wearing slippers, they abuse and shout at us.” However, on the other hand, people of the Thottiya Nayakar community are denying this and giving some other reason for building the wall. According to the report, 62-year-old R. Kandasamy completely denied the allegations and said, “We built the wall so that drunk outsiders do not disturb us in our area. This place has been in our use for years.” On the other hand, the administration is beating around the bush in this matter. Karur Collector M. Thangavel told The Hindu, “I cannot say right now whether this is a wall of untouchability or not. I have ordered the Revenue Department officer to investigate and am waiting for his report. The situation can be clarified only after receiving the report.”
But the big question here is, can any person build a wall on any government land without any permission? That too on the land where people come and go. Whatever this wall has been built for, it is clear that it is unconstitutional and illegal. Now the question is, why is the administration trying to complicate the matter instead of immediately demolishing this illegal wall?
Siddharth Gautam
Siddharth Gautam, who has an interest in journalism and writing, is a graduate from Delhi University. There he has been the winner of many university-level writing competitions. He has been associated with Dalit Dastak for the last two years and is working as a sub-editor.
Courtesy : Hindi News