Fence blocking road to Dalit settlement removed in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu

A wire fence which blocked a concrete road used by the Dalits in Pongalur block of Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district has been removed by the Revenue administration. The removal of the fence came just a day after the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) and other organisations warned that they would remove the fence on November 4 if the administration did not remove it. The fence, blocking a road which the Dalits had been using for many generations, was erected in Alagumalai village all of a sudden on 15 October. Former district panchayat chairman and AIADMK leader Shanmugam and some of his supporters called the police and illegally constructed the wire fence with the help of some religious authorities. The people of the locality demanded that the fence be removed immediately. Activists of the TNUEF visited the spot, and petitioned government officials including the District Collector demanding the removal of the fence. TNUEF, other Dalit organisations and the Dalits of the locality announced that they would start an agitation on 4 November to remove the fence. It was announced that TNUEF General Secretary K Samuel Raaj, Deputy General Secretary UK Sivagnanam, CPI(M) Tirupur District Secretary S Muthukannan and other leaders would be present at the protest. The Tirupur District Committee of the CPI(M) also demanded that the district administration should intervene immediately to remove the discriminatory fence. S Muthukannan, District Secretary of the CPI(M) in Tirupur, said on Wednesday that Dalits have been using the road through poramboke land belonging to the Revenue Departments, which passes close to Eswaran Temple, for more than 200 years. A concrete road was laid on the stretch using panchayat funds five years back. The CPI(M) demanded action against the encroachment of the poramboke land by means of erecting the fence and blocking the road which belongs to the government. Muthukannan warned that CPI(M) activists would remove the fence on Sunday if the authorities failed to remove it themselves. Subsequently the district administration found that the land belonging to the revenue department had been illegally fenced with the help of officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. The fence blocking the way to the Dalit settlements were removed on Friday, by police officials led by Muthusamy, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Palladam, as per instructions from sub-collector Sharvan Kumar. The Tirupur District Committee of the TNUEF welcomed the action by the district administration, and announced that the agitation announced to be held on 4 November has been withdrawn. District President R. Kumar and District Secretary S.Nandhagopal said that anti-social elements are trying to disrupt harmony in the region. District Administration and the police should stop such disruptive activities, protect harmony among people, and ensure the security of Dalits, they said. [caption id=attachment_579 align=aligncenter width=800] Poster of the TNUEF-led protest which was scheduled to be held on 4 November[/caption] Sections of upper castes constructing 'apartheid walls' and fences blocking the way to Dalit settlements has been a longstanding problem in several parts of Tamil Nadu, and powerful movements against them have been taking place in the recent years under the leadership of the TNUEF. Posalige Meanwhile in neighbouring Kerala's northernmost district of Kasaragod, the attempt by an upper caste landowner to block the construction of a road to a settlement where nearly 90 Dalit and Adivasi families live was successfully defeated recently following the intervention of the CPI(M). The landowner in the BJP-ruled Bellur panchayat had blocked the construction of a road to the Posalige colony, and the CPI(M) built a road with people's support to overcome the problem. The landowner had even destroyed parts of the road so as to prevent vehicles from going to the colony. The BJP-ruled panchayat took the stand that the road belongs to a private individual and hence nothing could be done. Following strong protests, the panchayat went back from that stand, but claimed that there are no funds to build the road. Legal obstacles were also put forward as reason for not building the road. Since the building of the road using the funds of the MP or MLA would take time even after getting a favourable legal advice, the CPI(M) decided to lay concrete on the 175-metre road on its own. The construction was completed in early October. [caption id=attachment_580 align=aligncenter width=768] Concrete being laid on the road to Posalige[/caption]