POLITICAL power in its real sense continues to elude Dalits in Tamil Nadu, notwithstanding the reservation of seats in elected bodies from village panchayats to Parliament. The recent murder of a newly elected panchayat president, a Dalit, in Tirunelveli district highlighted this reality once again. Not even the successful conduct of elections in four rebel panchayat villages in Madurai and Virudhunagar districts in October is likely to change this situation.
Ironically, the murder happened less than a fortnight after the State government patted itself on the back at a gala function in Chennai for ending caste Hindus' decade-long resistance to Dalit empowerment at Pappapatti and three other villages (Frontline, November 3, 2006).
P. Jaggaiyan, 35, president of the Nakkalamuthanpatti village panchayat, was hacked to death on November 22, allegedly by his own deputy, Thiruppathi Raj, a caste Hindu who wanted Jaggaiyan to be the chief only in name. Jaggaiyan resisted this by making bold to expose the irregularities of the previous administration, when Thiruppathi Raj's wife Regina Mary headed the panchayat. During the last two five-year terms the president's post was reserved for women (general), but is now reserved for Dalits under the rotation system.
Thiruppathi Raj, 40, is said to have fielded Jaggaiyan, who belongs to the Arunthathiyar subsect, for the post in a multi-cornered contest. The majority caste-Hindu group of Nayakkars, to which Thiruppathi Raj belongs, reportedly supported Jaggaiyan in preference to candidates of the Pallar subsect, which is the larger Dalit group in the village. Caste-Hindu majority groups strategically pit a candidate from the smaller Arunthathiyar or Paraiyar groups to frustrate the Pallars' efforts to capture the presidentship. Thus, in Tirunelveli district, in at least 40 of the 92 panchayats in which the post of president has been reserved for Dalits, Arunthathiyars have won with caste Hindu support. Paraiyar candidates, too, have defeated Pallar candidates with the backing of caste Hindus.
Nakkalamuthanpatti, where Arunthathiyars account for only 15 families, along with Paraippatti, a hamlet with 80 families of Pallars, and Narasimhapuram, a hamlet with a fair mix of Dalits and caste Hindu Nayakkars, constitutes the Nakkalamuthanpatti village panchayat.
After Jaggaiyan won, the six ward members elected Thiruppathi Raj vice-president unanimously. Right from day one, Jaggaiyan was said to have been under pressure to leave the decision-making to Thiruppathi Raj. Jaggaiyan refused to yield, said Arumugam alias Pappa, his wife. She said Thiruppathi Raj and his wife visited them at odd hours and warned of dire consequences.
Jaggaiyan, a daily-wage earner, countered Thiruppathi Raj with charges of irregularities during the earlier regime. Fearing for his life, Jaggaiyan was on the move, shifting his place of stay frequently. On November 22 morning he was cycling to a neighbouring village for his tea (because the tea shop in his village practised untouchability) when he was allegedly waylaid and killed.
The murder sparked protests in several places in the district, organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Tirunelveli-based human rights organisation Manitha Urimai Kalam (MUK), and others. When local people did not come forward to help remove the body, the Pallars of the village helped, said M. Bharathan, director of MUK. "This is an unusual gesture from the stronger and larger group, signifying Dalit consolidation against the oppressors," Bharathan said.
The police registered a case under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and a first information report was filed. A cheque for Rs.1.5 lakhs was given to the victim's wife as part of the compensatory relief payable under the Act. This was a rare response from the State administration. This had not happened on earlier occasions, even after mass movements demanded similar action.
S. ViswanathanCOMMents
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