Caste Hindus in a village in the district have banned local shops from selling commodities to Dalits in the area. Why were the Dalits subjected to this treatment? They carried out a Vinayaka idol procession through the main streets where caste Hindus run shops and small establishments.
The village, Thanthani, is located in the Pudukkottai- Aranthangi road, eight kilometres from Aranthangi. A women self help group called ‘Annam’ run by Dalits planned to celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi festival in a big way. They installed a Vinayaka idol on September 11 and decided to take out a procession through the main streets in the village, before immersing the idol in water.
A day before the procession, caste Hindus called the Dalit representatives for talks. Annadurai, the Dalit representative who took part in the meeting said, “The panchayat members said Dalits should not take out a procession through the main street as caste Hindus were running tea shops and grocery shops. “If your people take out a procession through the streets from which we buy all essential commodities, it will be against the detriments of the society. We will never allow Dalits to take a procession through the main streets”, one of the members said. However, the Dalits decided to take out the procession as planned. They lodged a complaint with Aranthangi police and sought protection during the procession. The police obliged.
This infuriated caste Hindus who convened a meeting at the Kaliyammankoil thidal. They reportedly invited all the caste Hindus to attend the meeting through loudspeakers. The Dalits had no clue what was being discussed in the meeting on Saturday morning.
However, when Dalit villagers went to tea shops at the Thanthani bazaar on Saturday, they were denied tea. The Dalits came to know that they were ex-communicated from the village and the caste Hindus had decided not to have any contacts with the Dalits.There are three tea shops and four grocery shops in the village and all of them are run by caste Hindus, who are refusing to sell anything to Dalit people. On Saturday itself, the Dalits complained with the Aranthangi tasildhar on the discriminatory treatment meted out to them. When the tahsildar enquired, the caste Hindus said they had not expelled the Dalits. But, after the meeting they did not sell anything to the Dalits. Balasubramaniyam, tahsildar of Aranthangi, said “I pacified both the communities. But, I do not know what happened after that. I will look into the issue”. Aranthagi union CPM unit had decided to hold separate protests on the issue and planned to start a drive against discrimination.
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