Jayanthi’s Story

First published on the Irenees website
Coimbatore, July 2007

“My name is Jayanthi and I contested the Local body election from the reserved constituency of Thandakaran Palayam Panchayat, Avinashi Taluk, Coimbatore District of the State of Tamilnadu in South India.

In my constituency only women were allowed to contest. The other five contestants were also women and they do not know anything about the Panchayati Raj system or the election process. By fielding them the intention was that we should not win but be defeated. They feared that if we won, other party people would join us. But after the election there was no problem. All was over with the election.

I have been in the Self Help Group for the past five years. Now it is my sixth year. Although I was in the Self Help Group even during the time of the previous election I could not contest because it was a general constituency during that time. Only a male candidate contested, but could not win.
The reason for not contesting in the previous election and for contesting in the recent election is to be seen in the point of view of my skills and capacities. I have undergone many training programmes conducted by some NGOs on the Panchayati Raj Institution. While I was undergoing the training, I began to think about contesting the election so that I could do something tangible for the people. Mustering up a lot of courage I contested.

After I won the election as President and took over the office, we had some problem in selecting the Vice-President as it happens everywhere. He belonged to the dominant community. The matter was that if an uneducated person becomes the President, the Vice-President would assume all powers in his hands. He would be invariably from the dominant community. Often he would manipulate and assume all powers including the power to sign cheques. The President would be unable to exercise his power and cannot question him. He or she would have to simply sign the cheques and sit quietly. In such situations the Vice-President would be de facto President and the President would be reduced to the stature of a Vice-President. That’s why there is problem in electing the Vice-President every time. However our Vice-President follows our advice. Krishnasamy by name, he belongs to the Bayal Community. We take administrative decisions in a committee consisting of nine ward members.

Among the nine members five are Dalits and four are non-Dalits. One of the members becomes the Vice-President. The four ward members (non-Dalits) did not support the candidate we proposed as Vice-President. The Dalit representation was six including me. The Vice-President is chosen by election. All the ward members exercise their voting rights in electing the Vice-President. The President can support any one. When the President supports a candidate, problems can arise.

People invite me to public functions at the school. With regard to family functions such as boring the ears, marriages etc., even though they invite me they would look at me only as an untouchable. Even today it is the practice. I don’t go for such functions because I feel discriminated. When it comes to other public functions, they don’t show their feelings of discrimination so blatantly. They had invited me to the School Annual Day. They could not do any mischief there. They have even invited me to family functions as well. If the function is held at their homes, they show their feelings. When it is held outside in a hall, they don’t show their feelings openly. They consider that I am polluting only inside their house. If it is a Marriage Hall, they treat me well. They give respect to me as the President and freely talk with me. The basic factor is that our caste people work in their fields. So they would view us only that way.

I have an unforgettable experience that I want to share with you. It is regarding the allotment for ten Group Houses. We started constructing the houses according to the BPL list. The construction was done with good amount of cement and it has come up to concrete roofing. Somebody whom we do not know for sure-whether Scheduled Caste or Backward Caste – sent a petition under the name ‘public’ to the Chief Minister alleging that the President and Vice-President of not constructing good houses. “They are using mud only and so the CM should take proper action” was their contention.

The BDO came from the Collectorate. He called me and said: “President, a petition has come. So many such things usually come. In your case this is the only one. Don’t be scared. Those who are not in your favour will do a lot more like this. You don’t worry”. When I told him that we involved the engineer and did everything properly, he said, “Don’t care. You do your work.”

My husband helps me in taking the motor for repairing. You see when the motor in a pump set is out of order; I cannot carry it for repairing. I know it is not my job. But if I entrust that work with someone he may charge some commission for his work. Then the expenditure will go beyond the income. Even if I do not carry it myself, I have to go. Don’t I?

After becoming the President of the Panchayat a great change has occurred within me. My personal capacities like communication and leadership skills have developed to a great extent. In the past, I was involved in educating the people about exercising their voting rights. Now I have come to realize what power I have. I have to think about what to present before the Collector when I meet him. This election has taught me to think about how to relate to others and to a councilor.
I have already got training in preparing reports and book keeping while I was in the Self-Help Group. I don’t need any other training. Our clerk is now under suspension. So I take care of his duties also. During the last term, accounts for Rs.1, 28,000 have not been shown. The former President had transferred that amount to the clerk’s account and he had spent it for some other purpose without paying the electricity bills. Even for that expenditure proper bills have not been submitted. Now that the clerk has been suspended, I am looking after the accounts.”

***

In response to the brutal attack on Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Krishnaveni, this is the fifth of a series of posts relating to attempts on the lives of dalit panchayat presidents. This attack has hospitalised an award-winning and popular elected leader and underlines the threat that caste poses to democracy. A statement on the attack issued by the Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation has been reproduced here. A poem about the incident by SRaj is here. There is also an interview with Panchayat President Krishnaveni about the incident and a fact-finding report on discrimination faced by Dalit Panchayat Presidents.

Discrimination against Dalit Panchayat Presidents

In response to the brutal attack on Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Krishnaveni, this is the fourth of a series of posts about attempts on the lives of dalit panchayat presidents. This attack has hospitalised an award-winning and popular elected leader and underlines the threat that caste poses to democracy. A statement on the attack issued by the Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation has been reproduced here. A poem about the incident by SRaj is here. There is also an interview with Panchayat President Krishnaveni about the incident.

A fact-finding report and memorandum submitted by human rights activists to the Tamil Nadu Ministry for Rural Development and Local Administration, dated 16.03.2007, lists the discrimination that Dalit panchayat presidents face. Thalaiyuthu is here mentioned as Vadaku Thalaitthu, as one of the Panchayats where the Dalit presidents ‘face imminent threat to their lives.’‘

We are concerned about developments in Tirunelveli District regarding the threats to life of elected Dalit Panchayat Presidents in the district. Already in two panchayats dalit presidents have been killed. They are Mr.Jaggaiyan, Panchayat President, Nakkalamuthanpatti Village Panchayat, Kuruvikulam Panchayat Union & Mr.Servaaran, Panchayat President, Maruthan Kinaru Phanchayat, Sankaran Kovil Taluk, Thirunelveli District. Following these murders representative of the organisations who are presenting this memorandum to you conducted fact finding investigations into both the deaths of the Panchayat Presidents.

The main findings of these investigations are :

1. The Fact Finding team concludes that after examining all evidence before it that the murder of Jaggaiyan Panchayat President of Nakkalamuthanpatti Panchayat was committed by Thirupathi Raj and Regina Mary at around 6.00 a.m in the most brutal fashion.

 

2. The Police under directions from their superior officers have taken all steps to charge sheet the accused under IPC SectionS 341, 302, Sec 3 (1) (X) and Sec3(2)(V) of SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) 1989. The charge sheet has been filed and the evidence statement in the presence of the Judicial Magistrate Court, Sivagiri was recorded on 28.12.2006.

 

3. After the Constitution 73rd Amendment this is the 3rd Election for Panchayats in Tamil Nadu. The previous elections were held in 1996 and 2001. In 2001 the Government did not pass orders for rotation of reserved seats for Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and Women. Accordingly there was some measure of consolidation of independents and identity of elected Panchayat Members from among the dalits and women. With DMK Government opting to put on rotation the reserved seats the dominant caste groups have used this occasion to support, coerce and finance candidates from among the weaker dalit communities in order to be able to disempower them and make them subservient for their control over the panchayat government. Jaggaiyan’s case is one among the several panchayats presidents who have been elected in reserved constituencies supported by Dominant caste votes. In Jaggaiyans case he attempted to function independently and even this was not tolerable to the dominant Kamma Naidus (Naickers) and hence he was murdered by the same Vice-President of the Panchayat who financed his election. Interestingly the Vice-President Mr.Thirupathi Raja’s wife was the previous panchayat president and he functioned as the defacto president.

 

4. The quality of life and economic and social status of dalits especially among the minority sub-caste Arunthathiyar community has not improved as can be seen from this panchayat. They do not have access to potable drinking water, street lights and are totally landless dependent on the kama naidus who are the land owners. Literacy levels is lower than other dalits.

 

5. District Government officials and Police officials require to take more effort than what they have already taken in Tirunelveli District to provide protection to the vulnerable dalit panchayat presidents. There should be more schemes by the Government of Tamil Nadu to provide them with special awareness programmes about their rights on priority basis. Insufficient land distribution of cultivable lands and ineffective use of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against all those threatening Dalit Panchayat Presidents continue to make dalits live in insecurity and fear.

 

6. From evidence gathered by us during our fact finding investigation, we consolidated the following list of Dalit Panchayat Presidents who were functioning on the orders of the Dominant Caste groups and facing severe discrimination, humiliation and inequality. They face imminent threat to their lives.

 

The panchayats are :

I.          Kuruvikulam Panchayat Union
1.         Appaneri Panchayat (Women President)
2.         Ramalingapuram Panchayat
3.         Ilyarasanendhal Panchayat

II.         Melaneelathanallur Panchayat Union

4.         Thevarkulam Panchayat

III.        Kadayam Panchayat Union
5.         Pappankulam Panchayat

IV.       Alangulam Panchayat Union

6.         Navaneetha Krishnapuram Panchayat

V.        Palayankottai Panchayat Union
7.         Ariakulam Panchayat

VI.       Manoor Panchayat Union
8.         Pillayarkulam Panchayat (Women President)
9.         Vadaku Thalaitthu (Women President)

VII.      Ambasamudram Panchayat Union
10.       Therkku Pappankulam Panchayat

We are afraid that this trend is likely to spread to several other panchayats where Dalit Presidents have been elected. A memorandum has been submitted to the District Administration identifying 40 panchayats where dalit presidents are forced to act as puppets of the Vice Presidents. The Vice Presidents invariably belong to the dominant caste in the area and continues to threaten dalit presidents. They prevent dalit presidents from functioning so that they can control the panchayat administration or compel them to function in a subservient manner.

Unless the Government of Tamil Nadu intervenes immediately and in an effective manner on behalf of these dalit presidents there is every possibility that the killings of the dalit presidents will continue unabated and become a severe blot on the administration of Tamil Nadu. Through ongoing studies we have discovered 40 panchayats in Tirunelveli District with dalit presidents that have been elected as benamies of the dominant caste group. Representation for action has been given to the District Collector.

The Dalit Panchayat Presidents are not being allowed to function in the following manner

1. Keeping cheque books under the control of the vice president.

2. All registers and accounts books controlled by the vice president and the clerical assistant.

3. Registers are not handed over to the presidents for him / her to function on a daily basis.

4. The panchayat office key kept with the Vice President or clerical assistant and preventing entry of the panchayat president into the office.

5. Even if the panchayat president is permitted to enter the office he/she is not allowed to check registers or even be seated in a chair or on a bench.

6. Civil works being modified according to the whims of the Vice president.

7. Forced to sign cheque amounts without any questions. If the president questions the purpose he / she is abused vulgarly.

Such offences against Elected Dalit Presidents who are also vested with the executive powers is being committed not only in Tirunelveli District but probably in all the districts.  All this is taking place at a stage when funds to panchayats for various civil works and schemes have not yet been transferred fully. We see a definite escalation of offences against dalits presidents including murders once such transfer of funds have taken place.

The 40 dalit presidents are not able to even come out of their village to express their plight or seek remedy from the Government personally. Any movement of the presidents that threatens the vice president and dominant caste groups that supported his / her election is met with abuse, physical and verbal and warnings of death. A few of these dalit presidents have filed petitions before the District Collector or the police seeking protection as they feel threatened for their life and their family.  We reiterate that this is not a unique situation in only one particular pocket but are afraid that there will be similar situations in several other blocks in several districts in Tamil Nadu.

Prayer

1. We request for a meeting with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at the earliest by a delegation of persons and organisations concerned with this denial of dalit panchayat presidents being allowed to function and facing threats to their life.

2. As Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration, we urge that you take steps to stop the violence and denial of the rights of the dalit panchayat presidents in Tirunelveli District and also in other districts in Tamil Nadu.

3. We urge you as Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration together with the Minister from the Local Constituency in Tirunelveli and the District Collector to organise and definitely participate in panchayat meetings where dalit presidents are forced to function as benamies and are facing threats to their life. For a start you could begin with the 40 vulnerable panchayats with dalit presidents identified in Tirunelveli District by the District Collector. This is very necessary to build confidence among these Presidents and the dalit community as a whole and revive faith in local government institutions.

4. From our experience over the last ten years with sensitizing dalit and women Presidents about administering panchayat government we have been repeatedly informed by Dalit Presidents that the cheque signing power vested also with the Vice President who invariably belongs to a dominant caste group creates several obstacles to their functioning as Presidents. They have requested that the post of Vice-Presidents should also be reserved for dalits in a village panchayat were the President seat is reserved for dalit. This, they say, will enable them to function more effectively. We support this suggestion of Dalit President and request that the Government of Tamil Nadu consider such an amendment and policy decision in the case of village panchayats reserved for dalits, men and women.

5. In those panchayats where dalit presidents are not allowed to function by a dominant caste groups the existing clerical assistant should be changed and the panchayat presidents given full freedom of making fresh appointments of only dalit clerical assistant.

6. All those dalit panchayat presidents facing threats to their life or their families should be provided with a revolver licence and a revolver from the district armoury.

7. Action should be taken against all persons who are responsible for various types of offences against the presidents including verbal and physical abuse forced signing of cheque books, prevention of entry into the panchayat office, not handing over registers and cheque books, etc.

Thiru.V.Karuppan, IAS (Retd.) State Convenor, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights	Thiru.Ravichandran Human Rights Forum for Dalit Liberation (HRFDL)	Thiru.Ekambaram HRFDL
Thiru.Killivalavan HRFDL	Thiru.O. Fernandes Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation	Thiru.K.K.Manikumar MIDS, Chennai.
Thirumigu. Santhi S Advisor, Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Presidents of Panchayat Government.	Thiru.M. Bharathan Human Rights – Kalam Tirunelveli	Thiru.Rameshnathan SASY
Thiru.Dayalan Convenor, Panchayat Raj Thematic Group. HRFDL

 

Interview with Krishnaveni

‘தாழையூத்து ஊராட்சி மன்றத் தலைவர் திருமதி. கிருஷ்ணவேணி மீது கொலை வெறித் தாக்குதல்; சமூக அக்கறை கொண்ட கல்வியாளர்கள், எழுத்தாளர்கள், மனித உரிமை ஆர்வலர்கள், ஜூன் 18-19, 2011, ஆகிய தேதிகளில் மேற்கொண்ட கள ஆய்வு’ அறிக்கையிலிருந்து

Excerpted from the report on ‘Murderous attack on the Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Mrs. Krishnaveni; Investigative field visit conducted by Collective of Socially Concerned Academicians, Writers and Human Rights Activists – Tirunelveli – on June 18-19, 2011’

“நான் பொறுப்பேற்றதிலிருந்தே பல பிரச்சனைகள், தெரு பிரச்சனை, ரோடு, தண்ணீர் பிரச்சனை, வீடு ஒதுக்கீடு பண்றது எல்லாமே பிரச்சனை தான். கூட்டமே நடத்த விட மாட்டாங்க. காவல்துறையின் உதவியுடன் தான் கூட்டமே நடத்துவேன். காவல்துறையிடம் புகார் மனு கொடுத்தாலும் உடனே நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க மாட்டாங்க. அவசரம்னு போன் பண்ணி கூப்பிட்டாலும், உடனே வரமாட்டாங்க. பால்துரை இன்ஸ்பெக்டர் எந்தப் புகார் கொடுத்தாலும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கமாட்டார். ஆனா மற்றவர்கள் கூப்பிட்டால் உடனே வருவார். குடியரசு தினம் அன்னிக்கு கொடியேத்திவிட்டு கிராம சபைக் கூட்டம் நடத்த ஏற்பாடு செய்து கொண்டு இருக்கும் போது துணை தலைவர் அவருடைய பினாமி ஆள் மூலம் இடது கையை பின்னால் திருப்பி முறுக்கி ஓடிச்சு விட்டார். பால்துரை இன்ஸ்பெக்டருக்குத்தான் போன் பண்ணினோம் வரவே இல்லை. அப்புறம் இதே ஆச்பித்திரியில்தான் வந்து சிகிச்சை எடுத்துக்கிட்டேன். ஆதித்தமிழர் பேரவை தான் வந்து ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் பண்ணினாங்க. ஏழைப்பேச்சு அம்பலம் ஏறலை. நம்ம சொல்றது எதையுமே கேட்க மாட்டாங்க.

From the day I took charge, there have been many problems, problems within streets, roads, water problems, housing allocation, everything was a problem. They would never let me conduct meetings. I had to hold meetings only with the help of the police. Even if I gave a complaint with the police, they wouldn’t take action immediately. Even if I phone and call for an emergency, they won’t come immediately. Inspector Paldurai would never take action for whatever complaint I gave him. If others called, he would come immediately. On Republic Day after the flag hoisting, I was making arrangements for the Village Council meeting, when the vice-president’s representative came and twisted my left arm over my back and broke my arm. We called Inspector Paldurai only, he never came. We came to this same hospital for treatment. The Athithamilar Peravai held a protest. The speech of the poor did not climb into the open. They will never listen to anything we say.

வெட்டும் போது ஏதாவது சொல்லி வெட்டுனாங்களா?

Did they say anything when they were attacking you?

பேசவே விடலை. தாறுமாறா தாறுமாறா வெட்டுனாங்க. அங்க ஒரு கழிப்பறை கட்டப் போறோம். ரொம்ப நாளா போராடி ஒரு கழிப்பறை கட்டப் போறாம். சுப்பு கோனாரு அண்ணன் பையன் ஆவுடையப்பக் கோனார் நாடார் பையன்களை brain wash பண்ணி கூட்டிட்டு வந்தாங்க. அன்னிக்கு ரொம்ப நேரமாயிட்டு ஆபீஸ்ல வேலை முடிய. 9.30 மணி ஆயிட்டு மறுநாள் ஜமாபந்தி இருந்ததுனால old age pension, அப்புறம் பட்டா, ரேஷன் கார்டு எழுதி கொடுத்திட்டு இருந்தேன். மாமா வேர இரவு வேலைக்கு போயிட்டாங்க. எனக்கு அன்னைக்கு periods வேறு. அதனால் என்னால் நடக்கவும் முடியலை, தலை சுத்தலா இருந்தது. அதனால ஆட்டோல போகலாம்னு சொல்லி கிளம்பினேன்.

They did not let me talk at all. They hacked at me blindly, from all directions. We were going to build a toilet. After a long struggle, we were going to build a toilet. Subbu Konar’s elder brother’s son Avudaiyappa Konar had brainwashed the Nadar boys and brought them along. That day, it had taken a long time for work at office to get over. It became 9.30 p.m. The jamabandi – settlement of land revenue – was to take place tomorrow. So I was writing out the old age pensions, patta and ration cards. My father-in-law had gone for night labour. I had my periods also on that day. I couldn’t even walk, was feeling dizzy. So I decided to take an auto.

வழக்கமாக போகின்ற ஆட்டோவா? வேற ஆட்டோவா?

Was it the auto you took usually? Or was it a different one?

நான் எப்பவுமே நடந்துதான் போவேன். அன்னைக்கு periods சமயம், மத்தியானம் வேறு சாப்பிடலை, தலைசுத்திற மாதிரி இருந்தது. நடக்க முடியலே கீழே விழுந்திருவேனோன்னு பயந்துதான் ஆட்டோல போவோம்ன்னு கிளம்பினேன். ஆட்டோக்காரன் வந்தான், கருப்பசாமி கோயில் திரும்பிய உடனே கூட்டமா அரிவாளோட வந்ததும் ஆட்டோக்காரன் ஓடிப் போயிட்டான். நானும் ஆட்டோவை விட்டு இறங்கப் போனேன். இறங்க முடியலை. எப்பவுமே அந்த இடத்துல கும்பலா ஆள் உட்கார்ந்து இருப்பாங்க. போலீஸ் கிட்ட எத்தனையோ தடவை அங்க ஆள்களை உட்கார விடாதீங்கனு சொன்னோம். உட்கார்ந்துகிட்டு கெட்ட வார்த்தையால பேசுவாங்க, கல்லைக் கொண்டு எறிவாங்க. அன்னைக்கு அரிவாள், கத்தியோட கூட்டமா ஓடி வந்ததும் ஆட்டோக்காரன் ஓடிட்டான். ஆட்டோக்குள்ள வைச்சி வெட்டுனாங்க பேசவே விடலை. வாயை மூடிட்டாங்க, கண்ணைப் போத்திட்டாங்க, வெட்டு அதிகமாக விழுந்தாலே கத்த முடியலை. எட்டரை மன்னிக்கு மேலே எல்லோரும் நாடகம் (டி.வி) பாக்கப் போயிடுவாங்க. நாடகத்திலே மூழ்கிடுவாங்க.

I always walk back. Since it was the time of my periods and I hadn’t eaten in the afternoon, I was feeling dizzy. I couldn’t walk and was afraid I would fall. That’s why I took an auto. The autodriver came. Immediately after turning at Karuppasamy Koil and the gang came with sickles, he ran away. I also tried to get out of the auto. I couldn’t. Always, there is a gang of men hanging around that place. I have told the police so many times, not to let men sit there. They would sit there and use obscene language and hurl stones at people. That day, when they came running with sickles and knives, the auto driver ran away. They hacked at me as I sat inside the auto. They didn’t let me talk. They shut my mouth and eyes. They were hacking at me so badly, that I couldn’t scream. It was past eight thirty, so everyone would have gone to watch the drama (T.V.). They would be lost in the drama.

அதுக்கு முன்னால உங்களைத்தான் வெட்டப் போறோம்ன்னு ஏதாவது சொன்னாங்களா?

Before the incident, did they say anything about attacking you?

அப்படி சொல்லலை. சொல்லியிருந்தா உஷாரா இருந்திருப்போம். ஜாக்கிரதையா இருந்திருப்போம். எங்க வீட்டுக்காரரைத்தான் வெட்டுவேன்னு சொல்வாங்க. ரோட்லே வைச்சி வெட்டுவோம்ன்னு சொன்னாங்க. கடைசியில அவரை இங்கிருந்து மாற்றம் பண்ணிட்டாங்க. என் பிள்ளைகளுக்கும் பாதுகாப்பு இல்லை. தலைவர் ஆனதில் இருந்த பிரச்சனை. அவங்க சொல்ற எல்லாத்துக்கும் சரின்னு ஜால்ரா அடிச்சிட்டு போயிருந்தா நல்லா இருந்திருக்கும் எந்தப் பிரச்சனையும் வந்திருக்காது. கள்ளத்தனம் பண்றதுக்கு, யாரையும் எதையும் தின்ன விட மாட்டேன் அதுதான் பிரச்சனை. நான் தேர்தலில் சுயேட்சையாகத்தான் நின்றேன். ஆதித்தமிழர் பேரவைன்னு இருக்கிறதே பதவி ஏற்ற பிறகு தான் தெரியும். எங்க சமுதாயம்ன்னு லேசா போவேனே தவிர பெரிய அளவில் இல்லை.

They didn’t say that. If they had, we would have been cautious. We would have been careful. They only said that they would attack my husband. They said they would cut him down on the road. Finally, he was transferred. My children have no protection. From the time I became president, there have been problems. If I had said ‘yes’ to everything they said and went along, playing the accompaniment, things would have been fine. There would have been no problems. I won’t let anyone do any thievery,  I won’t let anyone eat up anything. That was the problem. I had stood in the elections as an independent candidate. I had learnt of the existence of the Athithamilar Peravai only after taking up my post. Since they were of my community, I would go along a little but not much.

ஊர் மக்கள் ஆதரவாக இருப்பாங்க நீங்களே அவங்கிட்ட கேட்டுக்குங்க. நல்லா ஒத்துழைப்பு கொடுப்பாங்க. இடையில் நாடார் சமூகத்துக்கும் ஒரு சண்டை வந்தது. 2008-இல் சரோஜினி நாயுடு அவார்டு சோனியா அம்மாகிட்ட வாங்க டெல்லி  போயிருந்தப்ப சாதி சண்டைல விடலைப் பசங்களுக்குள்ளே சண்டை. தட்சணம்மாள் நாடாரோ ஒரு நாடார் அந்த சண்டைல எங்க சாமிய அடிச்சிட்டாங்கன்னு பிரச்சனை. அந்தப் பிரச்சனை நடக்கும்போது நான் டெல்லி போயிட்டேன். நான்தான் அந்த சண்டையைத் தூண்டிவிட்டேன் என்று என்னைப் பிடிக்காதவங்க சொல்லி, அந்த சாதிச் சண்டை விஸ்வரூபம் எடுத்துட்டு என்னதான் சரிசெய்து வைத்தாலும் அப்பப்ப இது புகைஞ்சிகிட்டே இருக்கும். (அருகில் இருந்த மகள் புவனேஸ்வரி: இப்ப கொடையில் கூட பிரச்சனை வந்தது. சும்மா இருந்த அம்மாவை எப்படி நீங்க இங்க வரலாம் எங்க கோயிலுக்குன்னு கேட்டாங்க. வேணி தொடர்கிறார்) மட்டமா மட்டமா அம்மணக்குண்டி அப்படி இப்படின்னு லேடீஸை கேவலப்படுத்துறாங்க. யாரு மேடம் சம்மதிப்பாங்க. இதுக்கெல்லாம் நாங்க பொறுப்பாக முடியுமா. பிரச்சனை வந்தது.

The people will support me, go and ask them. They would co-operate well. In between, there was a quarrel with the Nadar community. In 2008, when I had gone to Delhi to get the Sarojini Naidu Award from Sonia madam, there had been a quarrel among the adolescent boys during a caste-clash. It became a problem when Thatchanammal Nadar or some Nadar hit our god during the fight. I had gone to Delhi during this time. People who didn’t like me said that I was the one who had instigated the clash. Then that clash took on monstrous forms, and, however, much we tried to set things right, it kept smouldering. (Her daughter Buvaneswari is nearby and adds: Now there was a problem with the festival too. My mother was not doing anything and they came and asked her, how can you come to our temple? Krishnaveni continues) They would use such filthy debasing language, they would call the women ‘naked bottomed’, this, that. Who would accept such things, madam? Can we be responsible for these things? Problems came.

அதிகளவு உங்க பதவிக் காலத்தில் தொந்தரவு பண்ணது யாரெல்லாம்?

Who were the people who caused the most problems during your term?

இஸ்லாமிய சமுதாயத்தை சேர்ந்த சுல்தான். ஓடைப் பிரச்சனையில் சுப்பு போன வருஷத்துல இருந்து ரொம்ப தொந்தரவு பண்ணினாங்க. அப்புறம் நாடார் தான். நான் சொந்த ஊர் நாகர்கோவில் பக்கம். இங்குள்ள மக்கள் எல்லாருமே நாடார் வீடுகளுக்கு கல்யாண வீட்ல இலை எடுத்துப் போடுவாங்க. சுடுகாட்டுல குழி வெட்ட போவாங்க. இப்படி நாடார் சமூகத்துக்கு வேலை செய்வாங்க. நான் பதவிக்கு வந்ததும் அதுபோல வேலைகளுக்கு போக விடமாட்டேன். ஓடை தள்ற வேலை பார்க்கறதாலே இப்ப போக மாட்டாங்க. இது அவங்களுக்கு தாங்கலை. கோபம்.

Sulthan, who belongs to the Muslim community, only. In the problem of the canal, Subbu has been giving a lot of problems from last year. Then the Nadars. My native place is near Nagarcoil. All the people here go to the Nadar houses during weddings and remove the leaves that people have eaten from. They would go to dig holes in the cremation ground. They would do work for the Nadar community. After I took my post, I don’t let them go for such work. Since they do the canal digging work, they don’t go. Those people can’t stand this. They’re angry.

சுல்தான் ஒரு தடவை தேசிய வேலை வைப்பு உறுதித் திட்டத்தில் ஓடையில வைச்சி வேலை நடக்கும்போது அங்க அம்மணமா வந்து நின்னாரு. இப்படி வந்து நின்னா பொம்பளைங்க எப்படி நிப்பாக. அதுக்குக்கூட போலீஸ் எந்த நடவடிக்கையும் இல்லை. போலீஸ் காசு கொடுத்தா அவங்க பக்கந்தான் நிக்கும். அப்போ டி.பி.எம். மைதீன்கான் இருந்தார். அவர்ட்ட சொன்னேன். பூங்கோதை அம்மாட்ட சொன்னேன். நான் சுயேச்சையா நின்னேன். ஆனால் நான் ஆ.இ. அ. தி.மு.க. சார்பாக நிக்கிறேன்னு சொல்லி அந்தம்மாவையும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க விடாமல் ஆக்கிட்டாங்க. கருப்பசாமி பாண்டியனையும் பார்த்தேன். கஷ்டப்பட்ட சமூதாயத்தில இருந்து யாரும் வரக்கூடாதுன்னு நெனைக்கிறாங்க. கழிப்பறையை கட்டுறதை எதிர்த்து சுப்பு கோனார், அவருடன் சேர்ந்து மீரான், சுல்தான், எல்லாம் மிரட்டினாங்க. நாங்க முறையா அணுகினோம். RDOவிடம் கேட்டோம், தாசில்தாரிடம் கேட்டோம். இடம் இருந்தா தாராளமாக கட்டுங்க. இடம் முடிவு செய்தது மக்கள் தான். கோனார் ஆசாரி தேவர் எல்லா சாதியையும் சேர்ந்து தான் முடிவு பண்ணாங்க. இவர் சுப்பு கோனார் இடம் முக்கால்வாசி புறம்போக்கை பிடிச்சி வைச்சிருக்காரு. அதனாலதான் அவருக்கு இது புடிக்கலை.

Once when the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme work was going on in the canal, Sulthan came and stood naked there. If he comes and stands like this, how will the women stay there? For that, too, the police did not take any action. If they give money to the police, they will be on their side only.  T.P.M. Maideen Khan* was in the government then. I told him. I told Poongothai* madam. I had stood as an independent. They told her that I had stood on behalf of the A.I.A.D.M.K. and made sure that she didn’t take any action. I went and saw Karuppasamy Pandian** also. They think that noone from the struggling communities should come forward. Subbu Konar, with him, Meeran and Sulthan, all threatened me against building a toilet. We went about it formally. We asked the RDO, the Tahsildar. They said, if there is place, go ahead and build. The people only decided the place. Konar, Asari, Thevar – all the castes came together and decided. Subbu Konar’s land is mostly encroaching on poromboke lands. That’s why he didn’t like it.

*Ministers in the DMK government of 2006-11
**DMK Member of the Legislative Assembly in the same period

(அவரால் தொடர்ந்து பேச முடியவில்லை. கடைசியாக அவர்,) நான் ரொம்ப தைரியசாலிங்க. ஆனால் பொம்பளைன்னு பாக்காம இப்படி தாறுமாறா வெட்டுனதுக்க அப்புறம் எனக்கு ரொம்ப பயமா இருக்கு. இனிமேல் எங்க சமூதயத்துல இருந்த யாராவது பொது வாழ்க்கைக்கு தைரியமா வருவாங்களா? பொம்பளையான என்னை வெட்டும்போது என் கணவர், என் பிள்ளைங்க கதி? என்ன பாதுகாப்பு இருக்கு? ரொம்ப பயமா இருக்கு (என்று கண்ணீர் விட்டு அழுகின்றார்)

(She is unable to continue. Finally she says,) I am a very brave person. But after they have hacked at me blindly, without even caring that I am a woman, I am very afraid. After this, will any person from our community come bravely to public life? If they hack me, a woman, what is the fate of my husband and children? What protection is there? I am very afraid. (She weeps)

***

தாழையூத்து பஞ்சாயத் தலைவர் கிருஷ்ணவேணியின் மீது நடத்தப்பட்ட கொடூரமான தாக்குதலைத் தொடர்ந்து, தலித் பஞ்சாயத் தலைவர்களின் மீது நடத்தப்படும் வன்முறைகளை முன்வைக்கும் வலைபதிவுகளின் மூன்றாம் பதிவு இது. அருந்ததியர் மனித உரிமை அமைப்பு வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கை இங்கே. இந்த சம்பவத்தை தொடர்ந்து எஸ் ராஜ் எழுதிய கவிதை இங்கே.

In response to the brutal attack on Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Krishnaveni, this is the third of a series of posts about attempts on the lives of dalit panchayat presidents. This attack has hospitalised an award-winning and popular elected leader and underlines the threat that caste poses to democracy. A statement on the attack issued by the Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation has been reproduced here. A poem about the incident by SRaj is here.

A poem for Krishnaveni

- SRaj

ஒதுக்குப்  புறமாக ஒடுங்கி கூனிக்  கிடந்த சக்கிலிச்சி
சபையேறி நிமிர்ந்து நின்று  ஊர்ப்பணி ஆற்றுவது
ஜீரணிக்க முடியுமா பரம்பரை ஏவலர்க்கு
அடுக்குமா ஆதிக்க ஜாதிக்கு
பொறுக்குமா நம்மை ஏய்த்துப் பிழைத்து
வயிர் வளர்க்கும் கூட்டத்திற்கு

The Sakkili woman, who once lay crouched in a corner,
Now standing straight on a stage, serving the public,
Will those who have ordered us for generations digest this?
Will the dominant castes tolerate it?
Will the crowd that survives and fills its stomach
By ordering us around stand for it?

ஊரை விற்று உலையில் போட
சுயநல கூட்டம் போட்ட  தாளத்திற்கு
ஆட மறுத்து உன் உயிரை பணயம் வைத்து
திமிறி எழுந்து திறம்பட பம்பரமாய் மக்கள் பணியாற்றி
மாதிய குலத்து  வேணி  வீராயி நீ பெற்ற விருதுகள்
கண்களை கட்டை கொண்டு உருத்தியதோ

To sell the town and toss it into the fire
The selfish crowd beat out a rhythm
That you refused to dance to, placing your life on the line,
You threw them off, stood up and skillfully, busily, served the people
The awards you won, brave goddess of the female clan,
Were they as logs poked into their eyes, to annoy them so?

பெண் என்றால் பேயும் இரங்கும் என்பர்
ஐந்து ஜாதி  வெறி பிடித்த மிருகங்கள்
பெண் ஒருத்தி உனை சுற்றிவளைத்து
மேனியை ஆயுதத்தால் வெட்டி  பிளைந்து குதறி
கொலைவெறி தாக்குதலை நடத்தி
குற்றும்  குலை உயிருமாக இரத்த வெள்ளத்தில்
தங்கை நீ மிதந்த பத்திரிக்கை  செய்தி பார்த்து
படபடத்து பதரிவிட்டோம் உன் அண்ணன் நாங்கள்

For a woman, even the spirits show pity, they say.
Those five animals possessed with casteist rage
Surrounded you, a lone woman,
Hacked, split open and ripped you with weapons,
Attacking you with murderous intent,
They left you barely alive, floating on a flood of blood,
Our sister, when we read of this in the news,
We, your brothers, were flustered, stunned, troubled.

இந்த மிருகங்களின் முகங்களிலே
காரி உமிழ்ந்தால் கூட நம் எச்சில் தான் வீணாகும்
ஆட்சியாளர்கள் அலட்சியம் காட்டி
நீதித்துறை  நீதி வழங்கவில்லை எனில்
நம் நீலப்படை நீதிவழங்கும் என அண்ணன் அதியமான்
கூறியதை நீ சிந்திய செங்குருதியின் மீது
அணையிட்டு கூறுகின்றோம்.

Even if we should hawk and spit upon the faces
Of these animals, only our spit will be wasted.
If the ones who govern us should prove indifferent
If the department of justice does not provide justice
Our blue army will provide justice, said our brother Athiyaman,
Upon the blood you have spilt,
We swear that this shall be so.

***

This poem is written for Aathithamilar Peravai www.aathithamizharperavai.com

தாழையூத்து பஞ்சாயத் தலைவர் கிருஷ்ணவேணியின் மீது நடத்தப்பட்ட கொடூரமான தாக்குதலைத் தொடர்ந்து, தலித் பஞ்சாயத் தலைவர்களின் மீது நடத்தப்படும் வன்முறைகளை முன்வைக்கும் வலைபதிவுகளின் இரண்டாம் பதிவு இது. அருந்ததியர் மனித உரிமை அமைப்பு வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கை இங்கே.

In response to the brutal attack on Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Krishnaveni, this is the second of a series of posts about attempts on the lives of dalit panchayat presidents. This attack has hospitalised an award-winning and popular elected leader and underlines the threat that caste poses to democracy. A statement on the attack issued by the Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation has been reproduced here.

Why was Panchayat president Krishnaveni attacked?

தாழையூத்து பஞ்சாயத் தலைவர் கிருஷ்ணவேணியின் மீது நடத்தப்பட்ட கொடூரமான தாக்குதலைத் தொடர்ந்து, தலித் பஞ்சாயத் தலைவர்களின் மீது நடத்தப்படும் வன்முறைகளை முன்வைக்கும் வலைபதிவுகளின் முதல் பதிவு இது. இந்த சம்பவத்தைப் பற்றி அருந்ததியர் மனித உரிமை அமைப்பு வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கை கீழே.

In response to the brutal attack on Thalaiyuthu Panchayat President Krishnaveni, this is the first of a series of posts about attempts on the lives of dalit panchayat presidents. This attack has hospitalised an award-winning and popular elected leader and underlines the threat that caste poses to democracy. A statement on the attack issued by the Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation has been reproduced in full and translated below.

நியாயமாக பணிசெய்த பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவரை அடித்து நொறுக்கிய கருங்காலிகள் யார்?

Who were the scoundrels who beat up a just and hard-working Panchayat president?

‘தைரியம்ன்னா என்னான்னு தெரியுமா?’ ஒரு செயலை செய்வதற்கு துணிந்து நின்று பயம் இல்லாமல் செய்வதைத்தான் தைரியம் என்று சொல்கிறோம். அந்த வகையில் சாதி வெறியாட்டம் மிகுந்த திருநெல்வேலி சீமையிலே தனி ஒரு மனிதனாக நின்று ஆங்கிலேயரை எதிர்த்து, முதல் சுதந்திரபோராட்ட தியாகத்தில் தைரியமாக போரிட்டவர் தளபதி ஒண்டிவீரன் என்பவரையேச் சாரும் அவர்களின் வழி வந்த எம்மக்கள் மீதான வன்கொடுமைகள் தொடர்ந்து இருந்து கொண்டே இருக்கிறது.

‘Do you know what courage is?’ To stand up boldly and to dare to do an act without fear, that is what we call courage. Such courage belonged to general Ondiveeran, the man who stood alone against the British and fought bravely in the first war of Independence. In Tirunelveli region, that stronghold of caste violence, our people who are of his lineage are being continually subject to atrocities.

இந்நாட்டு மக்களாகிய, அனைத்து தரப்பு மக்கள் எந்தவித நோய்கள் வராமல் இருக்க ஊரையும், தெருவையும், பெரிய பெரிய முதலாளிகளின் வீடுகள் ஆகிய அனைத்தையும் சுத்தம் செய்து, அவர்கள் நன்றாக இருப்பதற்காக அனைத்து நோய்களையும் தாங்களே அனுபவிக்கிறார்கள். இந்தியாவின் 3வது அரசாங்கமான உள்ளாட்சி அரசாங்கத்தின் வழியாக தான், இழந்த அனைத்து உரிமைகளையும் சலுகைகளையும் பெற முடியும் என்ற நம்பிக்கையில் பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர்களாக நின்று அந்த அதிகாரத்தின் வழியாக கிராம அளவில் முன்னேற்றம் அடையலாம் என நினைத்து இந்த 5 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு தான் அரசியல் கோணத்தில் வெளிவருகிறார்கள் அருந்ததியர்கள். அவ்வாறு வெளிவந்த சமயத்தில் ஏற்பட்ட சம்பவங்களில் இழந்த உயிர்கள் தான் அதிகம்.

 

To save the people of this country from disease, they clean everything from the town, the streets and the houses of the big landlords. That these people may be healthy, they take all diseases upon themselves. Only in the past five years have the Arunthathiyar been standing for elections of panchayat presidents in the belief that atleast through the third arm of governance – the local bodies – they can find progress at the village-level, regain their lost rights and receive the subsidies that are their due. At this, the moment of their arrival, they have only lost many lives.

 

திருநெல்வேலி மாவட்டம் தாழையூத்து பஞ்சாயத்தில் தலித் தனி தொகுதியில் கடந்த 2006ஆம் ஆண்டு பஞ்சாயத்து தேர்தலில் அருந்ததிய சமூகத்தை சேர்ந்த கிருஷ்ணவேணி(35 ) என்பவர் போட்டியிட்டு வெற்றி பெற்றார். இந்த பஞ்சாயத்தில் அனைத்து தரப்பு மக்களும் வசித்து வருகின்றனர். பெரும்பாலும் விவசாயத்தை நம்பியே வாழும் சூழல் இருக்கிறது. இந்த பஞ்சாயத்தில் சங்கர் சிமென்ட் மற்றும் நிலவுடைமைகள் அதிகமாக இருப்பதனால் பஞ்சாயத்திற்கு வரவேண்டிய வரி வரவுகள் அதிகமாக இருக்கிறது. இருந்தாலும் கிராம அளவில் முன்னேற்றம் என்பது கேள்விக்குறியாக இருக்கிறது. குறிப்பாக தலித் மக்களின் முன்னேற்றம் மிகமிக குறைவாக இருக்கிறது. இந்த கிராமத்தின் வளர்ச்சியை நோக்கி இப்பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர் அரசு மற்றும் அரசு சாரா நிறுவனங்கள் நடத்தக் கூடிய பல்வேறு கிராம முன்னேற்ற சம்பந்தமாக நிகழ்ச்சிகளில் கலந்து கொண்டு தன்னுடைய பணிகளை செய்து வந்தார்.

 

Krishnaveni (35) of the Arunthathiyar community contested and won the Panchayat elections in the reserved Thalaiyuthu Panchayat of Tirunelveli district in 2006. There are people from many communities in this Panchayat. They mostly depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Since Sankar Cements and many large land-holdings exist in this Panchayat, there are many taxes that are due to be paid to it. Yet, progress at the village-level remains a question mark. Specifically, the progress among dalit people is very very low. For the development of this village, this Panchayat president participated in several programmes relating to village development, organised by governmental and non-governmental bodies, and performed her duties.

 

இவரின் சவாலான துணிச்சலும், தைரியமும் மற்றவர்களை வியப்படச் செய்தது. இது ஒரு பக்கம் இருந்தாலும் மாற்ற ஆதிக்க சமூகத்தினருக்கு அச்சத்தை உண்டாக்கியது. அதாவது, ‘ஒரு சக்கிலிய பிள்ளை இப்படி துணிச்சலா செய்றா நம்மளைய அடக்கி ஆள நினைக்கிறா’ என்ற தவறான சிந்தனைக்கு சென்று இப்பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவரின் பணியில் நெருக்கடி கொடுத்தான் மேலும் சில கொலை மிரட்டல்களும், கொலை முயற்சிகளும் அவ்வப்போது செய்து வந்தனர். இருப்பினும் பிற சமூகத்தை சார்ந்த பலர் ‘இந்த கிருஷ்ணவேணி அம்மா வந்த பிறகு தான் நல்லநல்ல விஷயங்கள் நடந்து இருக்கிறது. இந்த அம்மா நேர்மையா இருக்கிறது’ என்று கூறினார். இதையொட்டி இந்த பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர் ‘நான் பணி செய்யும் போது ஆதிக்கசாதியினர் ஒரு சிலர் பணிக்கு குறுக்கீடு செய்யுறாங்க, கொலை செஞ்சிடுவேனு மிரட்டுறாங்க’ என இரண்டு முறை பாதுகாப்பு வேண்டி காவல்துறைக்கு மனு கொடுத்துள்ளார் ஆனால் காவல்துறை இதை பெரிய பொருட்டாக கருதவில்லை. இதற்கிடையில் கடந்த 11.06.2011 அன்று மாவட்ட ஆட்சிதலைவர் மன்றத்தில் நடைபெற்ற மக்கள் குறைதீர்க்கும் கூட்டத்தில் கலந்துகொண்டு பின்னர் இதற்கு மறுநாளான 12.06.2011 அன்று சமபந்தி கூட்டத்திலும் கலந்துகொண்டு பஞ்சாயத்துக்கு சம்பந்தப்பட்ட தீர்மானங்களை நிறைவேற்றினார். இந்த கூட்டத்திற்கு கிளார்க் மற்றும் துணை பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர் ஆகிய இருவரும் கலந்துகொள்ளவில்லை என தெரிகிறது.

 

People were stunned by her courage and bravery which were a challenge to them. While this feeling existed, dominant castes were also afraid of her. The wrong thought that ‘This Sakkili woman acts with so much courage, she seeks to subdue and rule us’ led to them posing obstacles to her work, besides issuing a few death threats and making attempts on her life. Yet, people from other communities said, ‘After this Krishnaveni lady has come, many good things are happening. This lady is honest’. The Panchayat president had twice sought police protection, saying ‘While I am doing my work, some members of the dominant castes are interfering and are threatening to kill me’. The police department did not take her seriously. On 11.06.2011, she participated in the grievance redressal meeting organised at the Collectorate. She participated in the meeting the next day to fulfill the resolutions relating to her Panchayat. It seems that both the clerk and the Panchayat vice-president did not attend this meeting.

இந்த நிலையில் 13.06.2011 அன்று வடக்கு தாழையூத்து பகுதியில் பஞ்சாயத்து சம்பந்தமான பணிகளை செய்து முடித்து வீடு திரும்பும்போது இரவு நேரம் என்பதால் ஆட்டோவில் சென்று கொண்டிருக்க ஆள் நடமாட்டம் இல்லாத இடத்தில் சென்று கொண்டிருக்கும் போது திடீரென 6 அடையாளம்  தெரியாத மர்ம நபர்கள் கடுமையாக தாக்கக்கூடிய ஆயுதங்களோடு வந்து பஞ்சாயத்து தலைவர் கிருஷ்ணவேணியை சரமாரியாக கை, கால், முகம் என பல்வேறு இடங்களில் வெட்டி காயப்படுத்தினர். இதனால் அவர் உயிருக்கு போராடிக்கொண்டிருக்க பாலைமேட்டுதிடல் அரசு மருத்துவமனையில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டார். இரத்தம் அதிகமாக வெளியேறியதால் 1 லி 900 மிலி தேவைப்பட்டதால் தாழையூத்து பகுதியிலுள்ள பிற சமூகத்தைச் சார்ந்த 8 நபர்கள் தன்னுடைய இரத்தத்தை கொடுத்துள்ளது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

 

On 13.06.2011, after having finished some Panchayat-related work in north Thalaiyuthu, she was returning home in an auto since it was nighttime. While crossing a sparsely populated stretch, six strangers attacked Panchayat president Krishnaveni with weapons intended to cause serious injury and hacked at her arms, legs, and face. She was admitted, battling for her life, to the Palaimettuthidal Government Hospital. Since she had lost a lot of blood, 1 l 900 ml of blood was needed. It is notable that eight individuals of other communities of the Thalaiyuthu region have donated blood for her.

இந்த சம்பவத்தின் பின்னணி என்ன என்று விசாரித்த வகையில் ‘ஆயுதங்களோடு தாக்கிய 6 நபர்களில், 2 நபர்களை நாங்கள் சந்தேகப்படுகிறோம்’ என கிருஷ்ணவேணி தரப்பில் கூறியதால் காவல்துறை அந்த இரண்டு நபர்களை கைது செய்தது. கைது செய்த 2 நபர்களை விசாரித்த வகையில்  ‘ஆயுதங்களோடு தாக்கியவர்கள் அந்த இரண்டு நபர்கள் அல்ல, அதை செய்தவர்கள் கூலி படைகள் தான் அதனால் நாங்கள் சீக்கிரமாக கண்டுபிடித்து விடுவோம்’ என காவல்துறை கூறியுள்ளது. இச்சம்பவம் நடந்த 5 நாட்கள் கடந்த நிலையில் 19.06.2011 அன்று 5 நபர்கள் காவல்துறையிடம் சென்று ‘நாங்கள் தான் கிருஷ்ணவேணியை கோலை முயற்சி செய்தோம்’ என சரணடைந்துள்ளனர். மேலும் இந்த சம்பவ விசாரணையானது 23.06.2011 நீதிமன்றத்திற்கு வருகிறது என கிருஷ்ணவேணியின் உறவினர்கள் கூறினார்கள்.

 

While inquiring about the incident, it was said on Krishnaveni’s behalf that ‘Of the six individuals who attacked with weapons, we suspect two people we know’. The police arrested these two. Following interrogations, they arrived at the conclusion that it was not these two but hired labourers who had attempted to murder her. They promised to find the culprits soon. Five days after the incident, on 19.06.2011, five individuals went to the police, confessed to the attack on Krishnaveni and surrendered. Krishnaveni’s relatives said that the matter will come up for hearing in the court on 23.06.2011.

 

இந்த சம்பவத்தை செய்த கருங்காலிகள் யார்? என்பது இன்னும் புரியாத புதிராக இருக்கிறது. திருநெல்வேலி, விருதுநகர், தூத்துக்குடி ஆகிய அருகிலுள்ள மாவட்டங்களைச் சார்ந்த அருந்ததிய இயக்கங்கள் ஆங்காங்கே கண்டன ஆர்பாட்டங்கள் மற்றும் போராட்டங்களின் வழியாக கிருஷ்ணவேணியை தாக்கிய அந்த கருங்காலிகளை கைது செய்து தண்டனை வழங்குமாறு தங்களுடைய எதிர்ப்புகளை தெரிவித்து வருகின்றனர். வருகிற 28.06.2011 அன்று திருநெல்வேலியில் அனைத்து தலித் தலைவர்கள் இணைந்து 2000 மக்கள் கலந்து கொள்ளும் வகையில் கண்டன ஆர்பாட்டம் நடைபெறும் என திருநெல்வேலி ஆதிதமிழர் பேரவை மாவட்ட செயலாளர் திருமிகு சங்கர் கூறியுள்ளார். மேலும் இச்சம்பவம் பற்றிய முழு விபரங்களை கண்டறிய உண்மை கண்டறியும் குழு என்ற ஒரு குழுவை அமைத்து அந்த கிராமத்திற்கு சென்று உண்மை என்ன என்பதை கண்டறிய அதற்கான பணிகளை செய்தால் சிறப்பாக இருக்கும் என்ற பரிந்துரையை சமிர்பிக்கின்றேன்.

 

Who were the scoundrels responsible for this incident? This remains an unresolved question. Arunthathiyar organisations from the districts of Tirunelveli, Virudunagar and Thoothukudi have organised protests to express their demand that the scoundrels who attacked Krishnaveni be brought to justice. The Adithamizhar Peravai district secretary Sankar has announced that dalit leaders will come together to lead a 2000-strong protest on 28.06.2011 in Tirunelveli. I submit the recommendation that a fact finding team should be constituted and sent to the village to determine the truth.

 

>அரசானது திருமதி கிருஷ்ணவேணியை தாக்கிய கருங்காலிகளை உடனே வன்கொடுமை தடுப்பு சட்டத்தின் கீழ் கைது செய்ய வேண்டும்.
>திருமதி கிருஷ்ணவேணியின் குடும்பத்திற்கும் உற்றார் உறவினர்க்கும் பாதுகாப்பு வழங்க வேண்டும்.
>பாதிக்கப்பட்ட கிருஷ்ணவேணியின் குடும்பத்திற்கு உடனே நிவாரண நிதியுதவி செய்ய வேண்டும்;
>தலித் மக்கள் வசிக்கும் பகுதிகளுக்கு பாதுகாப்பு வழங்க வேண்டும்.
>வன்கொடுமை தடுப்பு சட்டத்தில் கூறியுள்ள தலித் ஊராட்சிமன்ற தலைவர்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பு நலன் கருதி துப்பாக்கி கொடுப்பதை நடைமுறை படுத்த வேண்டும்.
>ஊராட்சிமன்ற தலைவர்களுக்கான 29 அதிகாரங்களை நடைமுறைபடுத்தவேண்டும்.

அறிக்கைதொகுப்பு
வ. முத்து
மாநில ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர்
அருந்ததியர் மனித உரிமை சங்கம்

 

>The government must immediately arrest the scoundrels who attacked Krishnaveni under the Prevention of Atrocities Act.
>Mrs. Krishnaveni’s family and relatives must be provided with security.
>The regions where Dalit people live must be provided with security.
>For the security of dalit Panchayat leaders as mentioned in the Prevention of Atrocities Act, it should be made a practice to provide them with guns.
>The 29 powers and responsibilities that rest with the Panchayat President should be brought into practice.

Statement compiled by
V. Muthu
State Convenor
Arunthathiyar Human Rights Federation

Caste in children’s literature

Excerpts from the Himal Southasian Magazine May 2010 issue with a focus on children’s literature.

From Beyond the ‘national child’ by Deepa Srinivas and Deeptha Achar

Any intervention into the field of children’s reading in India must take into account the new investment in childhood that came following Independence. This included a major overhaul of the colonial education system, alongside initiatives such as the Children’s Book Trust, National Book Trust, Nehru Bal Pustakalayas and Bal Bhavans. Several key literary figures and artists were part of this endeavour, and a substantial number of remarkable children’s books were published. Popular initiatives such as the Amar Chitra Katha comics series also participated in this enterprise. Yet more than 50 years later, it comes as a shock to find, in book after book that came out of these projects, both protagonist and audience so obviously elite and upper caste.
…
In India, children’s reading materials were long (and continue to be) addressed to an urban, middle- and upper-caste child in ways that reflected his or her economic resources, family relationships, beliefs, school experiences, food habits and language. They recorded and endorsed the world, the sensibility and the authority of this child, resulting in a self-assured hold over the world that was later a key enabling factor in such children’s success. Other children, however, were not provided with such psychic support. In such books we hardly ever found a child who had come to school hungry and sits there dreaming about food, for instance, or one who had to scheme in order to acquire books for class. Children from different contexts sometimes did find a place in these stories, but were generally forced to establish their ‘smartness’. A tribal boy, for instance, needed to establish that his knowledge of the forest can be valuable for his urban, middle-class classmates; a disabled girl must excel as a craftsperson. Even in the case of middle-class children, only a restricted set of situations were generally admissible, thus glossing over the fact that children often lead complex lives. We rarely encountered a child whose mother was depressed or one who was coping with a death in the family – such children lived with the knowledge that they must anxiously guard such secrets.

Recently, the Andhra Pradesh-based Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies did a study in a few government schools in and around Hyderabad, and found a disabling gap between children’s home life and the assumptions on which school culture was built. Most of the children who attended these schools shouldered responsibilities in their families, and contributed towards their economic survival; these children’s sense of worth was positively constituted through the role they played. Yet such lives had no legitimate space in the education system. In fact, set against this dominant culture, these childhoods could only appear as deficient, deprived of play, pleasure and parental guidance. Children often dropped out because the school remained a forbidding place, identified not only with abuse from upper-caste teachers but also with the absence of recognition and endorsement of themselves or their home lives.
…

Deeptha Achar teaches English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and Deepa Sreenivas is with Anveshi, the Research Centre for Women’s Studies in Hyderabad.

Read the full article here

 
From Between Literacy and Reading by V. Geetha

In post-Independence India…Books that featured ‘modern’ situations, however, remained rare; when works did so it was only in a generic way, without attempting to recreate a lifelike world that might delight a child. In their anxiety to avoid the indecencies of caste and the tensions of faith-related issues, those few ‘modern’ tales courted a decorous artifice, and created happy nuclear or extended households that abounded in moral stereotypes: the good father, the indulgent grandmother, the naughty younger brother and so on. Names of characters were self-consciously Tamil, as if this took care of caste and other identities. While poverty, labour and the natural world were part of these fictional universes, they were present as mere rhetorical tropes rather than as descriptions of existing situations.
…
Also during the era immediately following Independence, Tamil publishing gained from an unexpected quarter. As happened in other languages of the region, the publishing scene was enlivened by books from the Soviet Union. Though the translations were often literal and even tendentious, these works made available to young readers far and wide wonderfully visual worlds that were novel. Furthermore, the brilliantly sure plots, the magic of poetic-sounding places and names, and the diverse universes that came alive in these books sustained several generations of young readers. Through all of this, however, avid young readers were – and remain – a small group, often restricted to those from the middle and lower-middle classes, with only a smattering of children from peasant and working-class households. Family reading habits, the openness or otherwise of local librarians, and the interest that the occasional teacher might show in a child’s linguistic development were crucial factors in creating and sustaining a child’s love for books.

…

V Geetha is editorial director of the Chennai-based publisher Tara Books.
Read the full article here

In conversation with Adhimoolam

திங்கள் சத்யா வினவு வலைதளத்தில் பதிவு செய்த இந்த நேர்காணலில் இருந்து

From an interview by Thingal Sathya on Vinavu.com

…
இடுப்பில் கோவணம், கையில் ஒரு மூங்கில் கழியோடு தள்ளாத வயதில் சேற்றில் புதைந்து கிடந் தார் அந்த மனிதர். வகைவகையாய் மனிதர்கள் தின்று கழித்த சேறு அது. கைக்குட்டையால் மூக்கைப் பொத்திக் கொண்டு இரண்டு கால் ஜீவன்கள் சிரமத்துடன் கடந்து கொண்டிருந்தனர். அருகில் நின்று பேச்சுக் கொடுத்தேன்.

…

With a loincloth around his waist and a bamboo stave in his hand, the old man was almost buried in the mud. It was mud that had been shat by humans after eating many varieties of food. With a handkerchief over their noses, two-legged beings passed by with great difficulty. I spoke to him.

“வயசானவன்னு பாக்கறியா! தொழில் சுத்தமா இருக்கும்” என்று ஆரம்பித்தார்.

“Are you worried that I am an old man? I do a clean piece of work,” he began.

“பேரு ஆதிமூலம். ஊரு மதுராந்தகம். எத்தினி வயசுன்னு எனக்கே தெரியாது. 53ல வேலைக்கு சேந்தேன். 96ல ரிட்டைடு ஆயிட்டேன். மூவாயிரம் ரூபா சம்பளம். மொத சம்சாரம் அம்மச்சி செத்துப் போனப்புறம் ரெண்டாவதா சந்திராவ கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக்கிட்டேன். மொத்தம் எனுக்கு நாலு பசங்க. ஒரு பையன் மூணு பொண்ணு. ஒரு பொண்ணுக்கு கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக் குடுத்துட்டேன். ரெண்டு பொண்ணுங்களும் இப்பத்தான் ஏழாவது, எட்டாவது படிக்குதுங்க. பையன் செரியான தண்டச்சோறு. அவனால ஒரு புரோசனமும் இல்ல. ஊரோட போயிட்டான். நான் ஒத்த ஆளு சம்பாரிச்சித்தான் இதுங்கள கரையேத்தணும். வயசாயிடுச்சி, ஒடம்புக்கு முடியலைன்னு ஒக்காந்திருந்தா சோறு சும்மாவா வந்துரும்? இப்பத்தான் கண் ஆப்ரேசன் பண்ணேன். அப்பவும் பார்வ செரியா தெரில. இந்த சிலாப தூக்குறேன். உள்ள “தண்ணி நிக்கிதா’ன்னு பாத்து சொல்றியா? கோச்சிக்காதே…” என்று உதவி கேட்கிறார்.

“Adhimoolam is my name. From Madhuranthakam. I don’t know how old I am. I joined work in ‘53. I was retired in ‘96. A salary of 3000 rupees. After my first wife Ammachi died, I married Chandra as the second. I have four children. A boy and three girls. I have given a girl in marriage. The other two are studying in the seventh and eighth standards now. The boy is a good-for-nothing. He is of no use at all. He has gone on the town. I am the only one who has to earn and bring these girls ashore. If I should sit down saying, ‘I am old and my body is weak,’ will rice come for free? I just did an eye operation. But I still can’t see properly. I’ll lift this slab. Can you see if the water is stagnating inside? Don’t be offended…” he asks for help.

“மாசத்துக்கு எவ்ளோ வருமானம் வருது. வேலைன்னா எப்படி வந்து உங்களைக் கூப்பிடுவாங்க?” ஏதோ… நானும் கேள்விகள் கேட்டேன்.

“How much do you earn in a month? How do people find you when they have work for you?” I just asked questions.

“”பென்ஷன் பணம் வருது. அத்த வச்சிகினு சமாளிக்க முடியல. எப்பனா ஒரு வாட்டிதான் இது மேரி (மாதிரி) அடைப்பெடுக்க கூப்புடுவாங்க. அடையாறு பீலியம்மன் கோயிலாண்டதான் ஊடு. கூட்டமா கீறதால பஸ்ல ஏறமாட்டேன். அவுங்கள கொற சொல்லக்கூடாது. நம்ப மேல நாறுது. போயி பக்கத்துல நின்னா யாருக்குத்தான் கோவம் வராது. அதான் எங்கயிருந்தாலும் நடந்தே ஊட்டுக்குப் போயிடுவேன். போற வழியில அங்கங்க சொல்லி வச்சிருவேன். எடத்துக்கு ஏத்த மாதிரி 100, 200 தருவாங்க.”

“The pension money comes. But we are not able to manage with it. It’s only once in a while that people call for work like this, to clear blocks in the sewers. My house is near the Adyar Peeliamman Koil. Since the buses are crowded, I don’t get on them. We can’t fault them either. I stink. If I should stand nearby, who won’t get angry? That’s why wherever I have to go for work, I walk home. I also tell places on the way, that I do this work. Depending on the place, they will give Rs. 100 or Rs. 200.”

“எப்படி இந்த வேலைக்கு வந்தீங்க?”

“How did you come to this work?”

“”எல்லாம் கெவுருமண்டு வேலைக்காகத்தான். நான் ஜாதில நாயக்கரு. போயும் போயும் இந்த வேலைக்கு வந்துக்கிறீயேடா?ன்னு எங்காளுங்க கேழி (வசைச் சொல்) கேட்டாங்க. எஸ்.சி. ஆளு ஒருத்தர்தான் இந்த வேலைல சேத்து உட்டாரு. ஆரம்பத்துல படாத கஷ்டமெல்லாம் பட்டேன். ஒரு நாளைக்கு ஒம்பது வாட்டி வாந்தியா எடுத்துக் கெடந்தேன். சோத்த அள்ளி வாயில வச்சாப் போதும், அப்பத்தான் எங்கங்க கைய வச்சி அள்னமோ அதெல்லாம் ஞாபகத்துக்கு வரும்.”

“All for a government job only. By caste, I am a Naicker. ‘Of all things, you had to go to this work,’ our people scold me. An S.C. man only got me this job. In the beginning I had to face all kinds of difficulties. I was vomiting nine times a day. I only had to take some rice and put it in my mouth, for the memory of where I had put my hands and what I had picked up with them to come to mind.”

“நாம இன்னாத்தான் சொன்னாலும் செரி, போடக் கூடாதெலாம் கக்கூஸ்ல போட்ருவாங்க. அப்புறம் அடச்சிக்கும். ட்ரெய்னேஜ் மூடியத் தொறந்தாப் போதும், ஆயிரக்கணக்குல கரப்பாம்பூச்சிங்க, பூரான், தேளுன்னு என்னென்னமோ ஓடும். பல்லக் கடிச்சிக்கினு உள்ள எறங்கிடுவோம். நின்ன வாக்குல காலால தடவித் தடவிப் பாப்போம். அப்பிடியே வழியக் கண்டுபுடிச்சி கண்ண மூடிக்கினு எறங்கிட வேண்டியதுதான். வேல முடியிறதுக்குள்ள பத்து பாஞ்சி தடவையாவது முழுவி எழுந்திருச்சிடுவோம்.

“However much we tell them, they will still put things they shouldn’t put into the toilet. Then it will become blocked. It’s enough to just lift the drainhole cover, thousands of cockroaches, centipedes, scorpions, all sorts of things will be scurrying around. Gritting our teeth, we’ll get in. Standing there, we feel our way ahead with our feet. Finding our way like that, we have to get in with eyes shut. Before the job is done, we’ll have to go in and out atleast ten-fifteen times.”

சாதாரணத் தண்ணியா அது. காதெல்லாம் சும்மா “கொய்ய்ய்ய்ய்ங்’ன்னு அடைச்சிக்கும். கண்ணு, காது, மூக்கு, வாயின்னு ஒரு எடம் பாக்கியிருக்காது. இன்ன பண்றது? சோறு துன்னாவணுமே!
எங்கூட வேல செய்ற ஆளுங்கள்லாம் சரக்குப் போட்டுட்டுத் தான் காவாயில எறங்குவானுங்க. வாங்குற சம்பளத்த குடிக்கே… அழிச்சிருவானுங்க. எனக்கு அன்னிலருந்தே பீடி, குடி ரெண்டுமே கெடையாது. அதனாலதான் இன்னிக்கி வரிக்கும் நான் உயிரோட கீறேன்.”

“And is that ordinary water? It just rushes ‘goiiiiiiing’ into the ears. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, no place is left. What to do? We need rice to eat!
The men who work with me will only get into the sewers after getting drunk. They’ll wipe out their wages for drink alone. From those days, I have not had the habit of beedis or alcohol. That is why I am alive till today.”

“”இவ்ளோ கஷ்டமும் யாருக்காக? பொண்ணுங்களுக்காகத்தான். அதுங்களுக்கு காலா காலத்துல ஒரு கல்யாணத்தப் பண்ணிட்டேன்னா நிம்மதியா கண்ண மூடிடுவேன்.”

“And all these difficulties are for? My daughters only. If I can marry them off at the appropriate times, I can close my eyes in peace.”

Comparative Contexts of Discrimination: Caste and Untouchability in South Asia

Excerpts from the paper by Surinder S. Jodhka & Ghanshyam Shah, Working Paper Series, Volume IV, Number 05, 2010
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi

Read the full paper here
…
Breaking ranks with the Government of India, the foreign minister of Nepal, Jeet Bahadur Darjee Gautam during a meeting of the United Nations in September 2009, welcomed the inclusion of caste based discrimination against Dalits as a case of human rights violation, to be treated at par with the racial discrimination. This move of the Nepalese government opened-up way for implementing the proposal mooted by the UNHRC to involve “regional and international mechanism, the UN and its organs” to complement national efforts to combat caste based discrimination.
….

While caste indeed has a religious dimension and it finds legitimacy in religious texts of the Hindus, it is also a socio-economic system[1] which shaped local economies, social and cultural entitlements and political regimes. In other words caste was much more than an ideological system. The idea of caste and associated social and economic structures persisted with varied religious tradition of the South Asian region.
…

Similarly, the Sinhala Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka seem to defy the theological position of their faith. Even when no one is “unclean” in the sacred meaning of the term, social anthropologists have documented the presence of caste like hierarchies, identification of occupations with social groups and even “outside untouchables” (Banks 1960; Leach 1960; Ryan 1993).
…

However, it is the colonial constructs and theoretical models of caste that continue to dominate not only the popular but also academic imagining of caste. Even the leaders of nationalist movements in the subcontinent accepted this colonial common-sense on caste quite uncritically. Thus when the new states were formed, of India, Pakistan and even Sri Lanka, it was only India which had Hindu majority, recognised the need to deal with caste and untouchability and made provisions for the uplift of those who had been kept out of the system, the untouchable whom the colonial rulers had designated as Scheduled Castes.
…

Though caste continues to be an important category of kinship and community classifications in Pakistan, Dalit question is a little more complicated there. Given that the term Scheduled Caste is still officially used for the “untouchable” communities of its small Hindu minority and that almost the entire Christian population of the country are converts from Dalit Chuhras of Punjab, caste question gets closely entangled with the minority question in Pakistan. However, quite like Bangladesh, caste and untouchability also exists among the Muslims of Pakistan. Though the mainstream Islamic ideology completely denies any place to caste in Pakistan, its presence, in the form of social intercourse, birth based occupation, segregation in residence and taboo in social relationship is very widely recognised and plays an important role in structuring kinship and political economy of the country (see Alavi 1972; Gazdar 2007). Popular categories with which Dalits of Pakistan are identified are not completely alien to Indians. For example Mochi (cobblers), Pather (brick maker), and Bhangi (sweeper) are mostly Muslims and considered “lower” castes on the basis of their family occupation, regardless of their religion. There are other titles, such as Musalman Sheikhs, Mussalis (both used for Muslim Dalits) and Masihi (Christians) universally refer to specific groups of people, also identified with specific occupation and used to segregate them from the rest as “untouchable” groups. It is not only the Dalits who are identified through caste names. Others too have caste names and maintain caste boundaries…

One of the most striking features of South Asia is the association of Dalit communities with certain types of jobs. For example, the cleaning of streets and latrines, dealing with dead animals, casual and bonded labour on land are almost everywhere identified with Dalit communities. Not only are these low status jobs, invariably they are also low paid jobs. Another common feature of Dalit life in these four countries is their residential segregation. They seem to be either living in segregated settlements away from the main village, or in the urban slums where living conditions are generally poor. The experience of untouchability and discrimination was also a shared reality but its details varied.
…

The pre-colonial Sri Lankan state was built around caste-based privileges of the ruling elite and hereditary and mandatory caste services of the bottom layers in society. Unlike the Hindu caste system founded on the basis of religious notions of purity and pollution, the caste systems in Sri Lanka have relied more on a kind of secular ranking upheld by the state, land ownership and tenure, religious organisations and rituals, and firmly-rooted notions of inherent superiority and
inferiority. The official requirement and support to the caste systems has indeed eroded over the years but the state has also turned a blind eye to the deprivations caused by caste discrimination. The militant Tamil movement led by LTTE also imposed a ban on the practice of caste for consolidating Tamil identity, which only turned it into a kind of underground reality, not to be confronted openly through politics and policy.
….

Dalits in Bangladesh also face discrimination in political sphere as well as in civic life. Many of them reported that they were not treated well even by the doctors and nurses in hospitals and clinics. They were also not allowed entry into their houses. The Hindu Dalits faced much more discrimination in religious life. They were not allowed entry into temples and were discouraged from participating in religious/community functions. Though in past some sections of Muslim Dalit
communities such as Lalbegi, Abdal and Bediya, (popularly known as Arzal), engaged in occupations such as toilet cleaning and garbage collection were often not allowed entry into mosques, there seemed to be no such restriction in place any longer. However, otherwise, the condition of Muslim Dalits did not seem to be any better than those of the Hindu Dalits. The number of Muslim Dalits complaining about practice of untouchability against them in tea shops was much higher (around 40 per cent) than the Hindu Dalits (around 15 per cent). Same was the case with having access to hotel rooms. Access to water from public and private sources was also denied to both categories of Dalits.
…

Caste and religion have always been interwoven in complex ways. While Hinduism has often been seen, and rightly so, to provide a theological justification to caste hierarchy, the Pakistani state uses Islamic identity and ideology to completely deny the presence of caste in the social and economic life of country even when caste-based identities and caste related discrimination are quite rampant in the country, including among the Muslims. Such official denial of caste also works to the double disadvantage of the Hindu and Christian Dalits of Pakistan. While being members of a small religious minority, they confront a hostile majoritarian state and civil society; being Dalits they also remain marginalised within their own religious communities.
…

Caste divisions and differences have perhaps not been as strong in countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Pakistan as they have been in India, or in some of its regions. However, unlike India, there has been no recognition of their special situation as socially excluded and deprived. Since the states in these countries do not recognise caste, they also do not collect data on their numbers and around variables of their economic status. In contrast the state policies have played a critical role in producing Dalit elite, which has played an important role in articulating Dalit aspirations and identity. No such process is visible anywhere else in South Asia. In this context Gellner’s  observation made about Nepal is worth quoting. Writing in 1995, Gleener observed:

… Nepalese state has so far taken no measures of positive discrimination in favour of those disadvantaged by the caste system, as have long been in place in India. Thus, in spite of the changes… it remains true that traditions, practices and ideas which have long been rendered controversial in India are still in Nepal relatively uncontested parts of everyday life (Gellner 1995:2).
…

Read the full paper here

Footnote [1] For example, some scholars stress that the origin of caste system lay in the nature of agrarian production and generous of surplus in early agrarian system (see Klass 1980; Yurlova 1989). Similarly, some others have pointed to primacy of the political in structuring caste hierarchies in India (see Raheja 1988; Quigley, D. 1993)

A Tiger-Woman’s Prayer

- Temsula Ao

According to Ao-Naga myth certain individuals, men or women, possess familiars or companion spirits in the form of tigers.

O you powers of the earth and sky,

Who gave me this destiny,

Tell me what is happening.

Because I hear a new cadence

In the familiar steps

That always stalk.

Reminding me of my varied selves

Whether they be spirit,

Human or beast.

O you capricious powers

Who fraught me thus

Why do you remain un-moved?

Can’t you hear the urgency

In the tracking steps

And the sudden fear in my heart?

Which cautions me

My time is running out

Whether I be spirit, human or tiger.

Tell me what to do

Should I increase my pace,

Run, skip or fly?

But my legs are leaden

With this un-shake-able burden

And the mounting fear.

That even if I try

The stalking pairs will out-pace me

And will not relent

Until I reach the shore

Beyond the region

Of the setting sun.

O you powers above

All-knowing, all-seeing,

Pity my human plight.

And enable me, just this once

To renounce

These other selves

Straddling my troubled spirit

Since grandfather’s tiger-soul

Came un-bidden to take control

And entangled my woman-self

In an un-seemly mesh

Of spirit, human and beast.

So I implore,

Grant me this last prayer

So that when I cross over

To the region

Beyond the sun

Like all others of my kind

The iridescent fumes

Of the last sunset

Will dissolve my several selves.

Be they spirit, woman or tiger

And raise a rainbow there

Against our composite tears.

- From ‘Songs from the Other Life’, poems by Temsula Ao (Grasswork Books: Pune, 2007)

Temsula Ao is professor of English at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU). Some of her poems have found place in the syllabus of Nagaland University and NEHU.

Caste discrimination in access to health care: A study of Dalit children

Namit Arora mentions here that ‘Dalit children routinely die due to discriminatory practices by ‘merit’ doctors’ and adds a reference to this paper [pdf] on ‘Access to Health Care and Patterns of Discrimination: A Study of Dalit Children in Selected Villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan’ by Sanghmitra S. Acharya from the Working Paper Series, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies and UNICEF, 2010. Excerpts follow…

From the foreword

…Employing a blend of public health and social exclusion approaches, this field-based study measured the degree of discrimination in health care for Dalit children in various spheres. The paper argues that the consequences of discriminatory practices severely limit Dalit children from accessing health services, and are attributable to the poor health and high level of mortality of Dalit children in the studied areas. The paper also reflects on discrimination differential between public and private sector health care. Highlighting inabilities of the present policy frameworks to deal
with caste and untouchability based discrimination in health care services, the study calls for developing safeguards and codes to check  discriminatory practices at all stages of service delivery.

This is part of a knowledge partnership between UNICEF and Indian Institute of Dalit Studies to unpack policy concerns of relevance to all children from the perspective of socially excluded communities.
…
Surinder S. Jodhka
Director, IIDS

Access to Health Care and Patterns of Discrimination: A Study of Dalit Children in Selected Villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan
Sanghmitra S. Acharya*

…

Understanding the Universe of the Dalit Child

During childhood, Dalit children may not be exposed to the labels like caste or untouchability. However, parents and adults are anxious that the child should not be hurt by transgressing the existing caste boundaries in innocence, hence the child is fed with many instructions of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’- don’t go there, don’t enter such house, don’t enter the temple, don’t play with so and so, don’t play in a specific place, don’t touch something/someone, don’t sit around such a place, don’t argue with so and so, don’t back answer so and so, don’t fight with so and so – a whole lot of protective and preventive instructions more specifically to the girls, like don’t dress like this, don’t sit like this, don’t come in notice of dominant caste etc. There are certain do’s like – bow before so and so, say Namaste, stand when so and so comes, do services when demanded, do physical labour when demanded, do menial work, agree when in conflict, say good things about so and so, praise so and so. There are thus clear instructions of physical distance and geographic boundaries a Dalit child is taught to maintain.

…

Some Indicators for measurement of discrimination in various spheres

· Home visit- not entering the house, entering only the main entrance, not in the living quarters, not sitting in the house if entered, notconsuming any thing to eat when offered by the resident.
· Practice of Untouchability- giving the medicines in the hands without touching the hand or any other part of the body, keeping the medicine on floor or paper, on anything else but not directly on the hand.
· Information- no information, incomplete/incorrect information about health and immunization camps.
· Dispensing of medicine- in the hand, without delay; on the dispensing window sill, without delay; in the hand, after everyone else has been given; on the dispensing window sill, after everyone else has been given; not giving at all.
· Diagnosis- may be measured through the indicators such as time spend in asking about the problem; sympathetic tone of the providers; and use of derogatory words as identification markers, not touching the user while diagnosis.
· Laboratory test/x-ray- can be measured in terms of the time of the test/x-ray done, immediately as the turn comes or wait till everyone else’s tests/x-rays are done.
…

Discrimination in access to health care service can thus, be understood through three basic forms-
· Complete exclusion or complete denial of health care services
· Partial denial or selected exclusion of health care services
· Unfavorable inclusion or forced inclusion for certain services.
…

Two hundred dalit and 65 non-dalit children were interviewed from the 12 selected villages. In case of those aged below 12 years, their mothers were interviewed. About 6-10 In-depth interviews were held in each village. The respondents were mothers, children, Panchayat Raj Institution (PRI) members, non-government organization (NGO)/ government organization (GO)/ self help groups (SHG) workers; Anganwadi workers; auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) and health worker (HW). At least 2 Group Discussions and 1-2 Consultative Meetings were also held in each of the village. Life course analysis and Case Study of selected individuals were also done.
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Most children experienced caste-based discrimination in dispensing of medicine (91%) followed by the conduct of the pathological test (87%). Of 1298 times that the 200 dalit children were given any medicine, they experienced discrimination on 1181 occasions. Nearly 9 out of 10 times dalit children experienced discrimination while receiving or getting the medicine or a pathological test conducted. While seeking referral about 63% times dalit children were discriminated. Also, nearly 6 in every 10 times dalit children were discriminated during diagnosis and while seeking referral.
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It was observed that most of the discrimination was experienced by dalit children in the form of ‘touch’ 94% times, when they accessed health care. Duration of time spent between the provider and dalit children was the next most discriminating form. About 81% times dalit children were not given as much time by the providers as other children. The use of derogatory words and waiting at the place of care provisioning were the forms where less discrimination was experienced as compared to duration of interaction and touch. About 7 out of 10 times children were discriminated by doctors, lab technicians and RMPs vis-à-vis touch. This form was more vigorously practiced by pharmacists, ANMs and AWWs. They did not touch the dalit children for almost every time they interacted with them
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The Dalit children in both the states wished that the providers should speak to them gently without using derogatory and demeaning words. Time spent with the provider was ranked fifth in both the states as far as the desired behavior from the providers was concerned. Being touched gently, without being offended, appeared low in their ranking among the children in both the states largely because they may not be visualizing it as important element in care giving
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It is evident from the consultative meeting with the Panchayat members, teachers and other members of the village community that when there were elected members, officials, teachers and care providers from Dalit caste; and voluntary organisations sensitive to the issue of caste based discrimination in the area; more assertion among Dalits and less evidence of discrimination were noted. Villages where such sensitivity lacked, hooliganism, often backed by local political outfits was conspicuous. For instance a Dalit Doctor (lady) was forced to ‘go on leave’ due to alleged misconduct of a Dominant caste youth with claims of ‘political connections’ (Undkha). There were apprehensions about dalit providers which often led to unpleasant encounters. A PHC doctor from Dalit caste (Ranigaon) ‘satisfied’ Dalits, though the non-Dalits felt he was there because ‘the Sarpanch was also from Dalit caste’. His medicines were considered ‘not effective’, medicines are unavailable because ‘they sell’ them in the market. Acceptance of Dalit provider was also evident when the key villagers reflected sensitivity towards caste-based discrimination. Information about health camps were given adequately to dalit households. There were expectations that these important villagers would work towards bridging the gap between the Dalits and the non-Dalits.
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*Samghmitra S. Acharya is Associate Professor at Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health, JNU, New Delhi. She wishes to acknowledge and express gratitude to Prof. P.M. Kulkarni, Prof G. Shah and Prof S.K. Thorat for their valuable suggestions while conducting the study on which the paper is based.
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