Nearly eight months after a major police firing at Paramakudi in south Tamil Nadu and related incidents which had claimed the lives of seven Dalits, a simple civil engineering solution promises to harmonise the social equations between dominant castes and Dalits.
On September 11, 2011, a large gathering of Dalits at Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district to pay homage at the memorial of the late “Dalit hero” Immanuel Sekaran on the latter’s death anniversary had suddenly turned violent. They began attacking police personnel and vehicles, resulting in a police firing at the mob. A piece of apparent misinformation that John Pandian, a Dalit leader, had been “arrested” near Tuticorin in the neighbouring district when the police had only “detained” him as a precautionary measure had ignited tension and anger among the Dalits waiting to pay homage to Immanuel at Paramakudi.
Immanuel was killed in the 1957 caste clashes between “Thevars”—a dominant caste in the South and the Dalits in erstwhile composite Ramanathapuram district. Since then, on September 11 every year, the police mount extra vigil to avert any untoward incident on Immanuel’s death anniversary.
It is similar to the emotive outpour seen on October 30 every year when thousands of people gather to pay their respects at the samadhi of late Nationalist and Forward Bloc leader Pasumponn Muthuramalinga Thevar at his native village in Pasumponn in the same district. With the caste polarisation so sharp in the southern districts in particular, ensuring that anniversaries of major leaders on either side of the divide pass off peacefully is both a logistical and manpower issue for police.
But even as the judicial panel’s final report is awaited, Jayalalitha has directed that the road leading to Immanuel’s memorial close to the Parthibanur dam near Paramakudi be upgraded into a two-lane highway at a cost of Rs 2.74 crore to facilitate free flow of traffic, as it would help avert blockades and tension when large crowds bus both ways.
This thoughtful civil engineering remedy to what is basically a social issue, by helping to ease the movement of people and VIPs at Paramakudi on such occasions, was announced in the Assembly by PWD Minister K V Ramalingam as a scheme to be implemented this fiscal year.
On September 11, 2011, a large gathering of Dalits at Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district to pay homage at the memorial of the late “Dalit hero” Immanuel Sekaran on the latter’s death anniversary had suddenly turned violent. They began attacking police personnel and vehicles, resulting in a police firing at the mob. A piece of apparent misinformation that John Pandian, a Dalit leader, had been “arrested” near Tuticorin in the neighbouring district when the police had only “detained” him as a precautionary measure had ignited tension and anger among the Dalits waiting to pay homage to Immanuel at Paramakudi.
Immanuel was killed in the 1957 caste clashes between “Thevars”—a dominant caste in the South and the Dalits in erstwhile composite Ramanathapuram district. Since then, on September 11 every year, the police mount extra vigil to avert any untoward incident on Immanuel’s death anniversary.
It is similar to the emotive outpour seen on October 30 every year when thousands of people gather to pay their respects at the samadhi of late Nationalist and Forward Bloc leader Pasumponn Muthuramalinga Thevar at his native village in Pasumponn in the same district. With the caste polarisation so sharp in the southern districts in particular, ensuring that anniversaries of major leaders on either side of the divide pass off peacefully is both a logistical and manpower issue for police.
But even as the judicial panel’s final report is awaited, Jayalalitha has directed that the road leading to Immanuel’s memorial close to the Parthibanur dam near Paramakudi be upgraded into a two-lane highway at a cost of Rs 2.74 crore to facilitate free flow of traffic, as it would help avert blockades and tension when large crowds bus both ways.
This thoughtful civil engineering remedy to what is basically a social issue, by helping to ease the movement of people and VIPs at Paramakudi on such occasions, was announced in the Assembly by PWD Minister K V Ramalingam as a scheme to be implemented this fiscal year.
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