Temple Fest Turns Violent in Madurai, Dalit Vehicles Burnt by Caste Hindus

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Temple Fest Turns Violent in Madurai, Dalit Vehicles Burnt by Caste Hindus
ByPon Vasanth Arunachalam

Published:23rd October 2015 03:24 AM

Last Updated:23rd October 2015 09:07 AM

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  (Image used for representational purpose only)

MADURAI:Tension prevailed in Elumalai and Athankaraipatti villages after at least four vehicles belonging to Dalits from the latter village were torched by caste Hindus and few others were injured in a clash that broke out on Wednesday evening at a temple festival. The villages, located around 60 km west of Madurai, were celebrating the Muthalamman temple festival.

Police said that around 500 Dalits from Athankaraipatti, including women and children, had reached the entrance of Elumalai along the banks of Kanakankulam kanmai (tank) for ethir sevai, a ritual in which deities from Elumalai and Athankaraipatti meet each other.

Facing them, around 2,000 people belonging to different intermediate castes from Elumalai had gathered. As the ceremony began, police said that a few caste Hindus made abusive remarks against the Dalits, ridiculing their presence in the sacred rituals. While police and the caste Hindus claimed that the Dalits soon started throwing chappals, the Dalits of Athankaraipatti claimed that it was the caste Hindus who started pelting stones and abuses.

“We were in their village and they outnumbered us. How will we start pelting stones when many children and women were with us?” questioned P Karupaiya, the panchayat president of Athankaraipaatti. “We rushed back to our village, more than a kilometre away, leaving some of our vehicles,” he added.

The Dalits said that three motorbikes and a mini van carrying a generator were torched by the caste Hindus. At least three Dalits, including S Suruli, an elderly man and a Class XII student were grievously injured.

Police said the caste Hindus continued their rampage inside Elumalai, damaging two police vehicles and another vehicle belonging to the Peraiyur Tehsiildar. They also allegedly pelted stones at the Elumalai police station. The police resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control.

Athankaraipatti villagers alleged that the situation flared up as the police presence was inadequate.

Karupaiya said they anticipated untoward incidents as caste Hindus were bringing up issues ever since the festival began on October 13. “We had petitioned the SP and Collector. They should have deployed more personnel,” he said.

Senior police and revenue officials acknowledged that their focus on Wednesday was mainly on the nearby communally sensitive Uthapuram, another participating village in the festival. The official however added that the situation was brought under control immediately.

Six cases have been registered, including three against caste Hindus on complaints by the Dalits and one against the Dalits on a complaint by caste Hindus as they claimed the Dalits pelted stones at them. Two more were booked on complaints by police themselves and the Peraiyur Tehsildar against unidentified persons. At least 20 persons, including three Dalits, have been secured so far.

A huge posse of police has been deployed in both Elumalai and Athankaraipatti with temporary check posts regulating entry to these villages.



Temple Fest Turns Violent in Madurai, Dalit Vehicles Burnt by Caste Hindus -The New Indian Express

 

[GR!FF!N]

WTH is "Caste Hindu"???

 

[Star Wars]

WTH is "Caste Hindu"???

ignore these threads,less attention we give to this, the better. let Anti Indian express rave and rant....

 

[jamahir]

islamic terrorism at work here... it is a plot to defame the so-very-progressive bjp government !!

 

[Infinity]

ignore these threads,less attention we give to this, the better. let Anti Indian express rave and rant....

Isn't this the reality of India................why ignore this.........Instead say lets work together to get out of this evil................

 

[SmilingBuddha]

islamic terrorism at work here... it is a plot to defame the so-very-progressive bjp government !!

The incident happened in the state of Tamilnadu and it is ruled by a regional party called AIADMK .to be fair BJP is nowhere in the scene.If you are going to blame BJP, try looking for connections between the two political parties and with some internet links , you might be able to create a conspiracy theory around it
AIADMK | The Official Website

 

[jamahir]

The incident happened in the state of Tamilnadu and it is ruled by a regional party called AIADMK .to be fair BJP is nowhere in the scene.If you are going to blame BJP, try looking for connections between the two political parties and with some internet links , you might be able to create a conspiracy theory around it
AIADMK | The Official Website

bjp is only the symptom and not the first cause... bjp is the fever that keeps immunity low and allows such incidents to continue.

unless socialism is applied across india, there won't be change.

 

[Gibbs]

Isn't this the reality of India................why ignore this.........Instead say lets work together to get out of this evil................

Whoever is doing this.. Intolerance is on the rise since BJP came in to power, Maybe these fringe groups are embolden to propagate violence, A sense of impunity.. Even though the central govt may have no hand in them

But blaming the media every time when something is reported is just burying the head in the sand.. It's another way of approval of the violence.. Which has been the common excuse by majority of Indian posters here..

Either way, reports are accurate or not there is no smoke without a fire

 

[SmilingBuddha]

bjp is only the symptom and not the first cause... bjp is the fever that keeps immunity low and allows such incidents to continue.

unless socialism is applied across india, there won't be change.

.Actually,BJP is the cheap Indian made cancer curing generic drug..
So BJP is the cause of the conflicts in Madurai or atleast the chain leading to it..any proofs..Tamilnadu is a hot bed for caste based politics, BJP cannot or for that matter no non-regional party can play any role in Tamilnadu..
Socialism is sharing right, so you have to share my misery also.Can you please give me your bank account and password details.If you are willing to part with your hard earned money, then you can call yourself socialist...I

 

[Bang Galore]

Whoever is doing this.. Intolerance is on the rise since BJP came in to power, Maybe these fringe groups are embolden to propagate violence, A sense of impunity.. Even though the central govt may have no hand in them

These incidents have been happening for ages. Unfortunately. What is happening now is the deliberate linking of the Modi government to these types of incidents. While there may be some truth to anti-Muslim groups getting emboldened by the rise of the BJP to power at the centre, there is almost no connection to caste based violence since both the dalits & other backward castes constitute a major BJP base.This happened in Tamil Nadu where the BJP is at best, a marginal player.

You can figure the reason for anyone to draw a connection. Pretty cynical but may have an impact on BJP's prospects elsewhere.

 

[Gibbs]

These incidents have been happening for ages. Unfortunately. What is happening now is the deiberate linking of the Modi government to these types of incidents. While there may be some truth to anti-Muslim groups getting emboldened by the rise of the BJP to power at thye centre, there is almost no connection to caste based violence since both the dalits & other backward castes constitute a major BJP base.This happened in Tamil Nadu where the BJP is at best, a marginal player.

You can figure the reason for anyone to draw a connection. Pretty cynical but may have an impact on BJP's prospects elsewhere.

The lack of prosecution to public utterances of condoning violence by those attributed to the govt would have a large bearing to that conclusion.. I'm sure these kind of things would have been happening through the years but indifferent attitude by especially Mr. Modi who many hold in esteem seem to give these groups a sense of impunity.. Given his near fanatical following especially by the nationalistic right the right kind of statement would impact such things in a major way

But i do reiterate, Blaming the mass media every time does not hide the complicity

 

[Bang Galore]

The lack of prosecution to public utterances of condoning violence by those attributed to the govt would have a large bearing to that conclusion.. I'm sure these kind of things would have been happening through the years but indifferent attitude by especially Mr. Modi who many hold in esteem seem to give these groups a sense of impunity.. Given his near fanatical following especially by the right the right kind of statement would impact such things in a major way

But i do reiterate, Blaming the mass media every time does not hide the complicity

The Prime Minister simply can't speak & condemn in the manner that many wish. No PM can. Law & Order is a state subject & the centre has nothing to day with it. Prosecuting cannot be done by the centre. The PM can neither order a prosecution nor clamp down on any group or organisation, it is for the state government to proceed in that direction. Any adversarial comment from the PM about incidents in opposition ruled states will be quickly pounced upon as being against the spirit of federalism and result in an political battle.

What exactly is this indifferent attitude then?

 

[SmilingBuddha]

Whoever is doing this.. Intolerance is on the rise since BJP came in to power, Maybe these fringe groups are embolden to propagate violence, A sense of impunity.. Even though the central govt may have no hand in them

But blaming the media every time when something is reported is just burying the head in the sand.. It's another way of approval of the violence.. Which has been the common excuse by majority of Indian posters here..

Either way, reports are accurate or not there is no smoke without a fire

These incidents are not Hindu vs muslim or christian..the so called fringe groups (as per your Phd on Tamil politics) have been at it even before the existence of BJP.... I have provide a link of the shameless caste and religion based parties and yes, there are religion based parties too. Christians and Muslims are also at it.
Categoryolitical parties in Tamil Nadu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The central govt has no say in what happens in Tamilnadu.If you are going to blame someone, blame caste based politics and the people supporting it.The sense of Impunity suites more against the so called Internet intellectuals, who can say anything out of subject or reality and get away with it.

 

[Politico]

the only solution is 4 dalits 2 convert 2 islam.

 

[Gibbs]

The Prime Minister simply can't speak & condemn in the manner that many wish. No PM can. Law & Order is a state subject & the centre has nothing to day with it. Prosecuting cannot be done by the centre. The PM can neither order a prosecution nor clamp down on any group or organisation, it is for the state government to proceed in that direction. Any adversarial comment from the PM about incidents in opposition ruled states will be quickly pounced upon as being against the spirit of federalism and result in an political battle.

What exactly is this indifferent attitude then?

Again it's foolhardy to blame the central govt for every thing that happens state wide, caste or religious violence but my contention is as the PM he sure does have a huge say in the matter.. if the law and order, religious tolerance and discrimination is pushed to the periphery and the GOI keeps their hands off because they dont want to offend state coalition politics.. Why do you need a central govt then ? I dont buy that

Whether people like or not the prominence of Mr. Modi's govt has emboldened the Hindu right wing, That is very evident, From the microcosm of this forum to the wider Indian society.. Now if that is fair on the BJP is another matter but given Mr. Modi's fanatical following at times especially by this nationalistic segment.. He certainly does have a huge responsibility on stemming this trend

 

[Bang Galore]

Again it's foolhardy to blame the central govt for every thing that happens state wide, caste or religious violence but my contention is as the PM he sure does have a huge say in the matter.. if the law and order, religious tolerance and discrimination is pushed to the periphery and the GOI keeps their hands off because they dont want to offend state coalition politics.. Why do you need a central govt then ? I dont buy that

You have a limited understanding of the Indian constitutional position. The PM has very little role to play unless any violence is so widespread as to cause a complete breakdown of law & order. He can of course, talk in general terms & criticise an attack (not the state government) but that will invariably lead to questions on why he is talking about one issue but not the other. It is not about offending coalition politics but respecting the constitutional position.

Whether people like or not the prominence of Mr. Modi's govt has emboldened the Hindu right wing, That is very evident, From the microcosm of this forum to the wider Indian society.. Now if that is fair on the BJP is another matter but given Mr. Modi's fanatical following at times especially by this nationalistic segment.. He certainly does have a huge responsibility on stemming this trend

That is true & I have admitted to it being likely in my first post. However it has absolutely no connection to caste attacks, the dalits form a big BJP support base. On issues of anti Muslim behaviour, I would agree with your contention. The Hindu right wing that supports Modi is not interested in caste violence, they see it as being a hindrance to their idea of a larger Hindu grouping. These are just local caste groups doing their thing, Modi has no real influence on any of them, least of all in TN.