TAMILNADU

 AIDWA Holds Inspiring Conference Against Untouchability

R Chandra

THE Tamilnadu state unit of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has been active on a number of democratic issues. Among them, the issue of fighting caste oppression has been an important one. As has been reported in earlier issues of People’s Democracy, the AIDWA’s state unit has been holding zonal conferences against the practice of untouchability, other modes of discrimination and the oppression of Dalits in general and Dalit women in particular. After three successful conferences in Pudokkottai, Theni and Udumalaipettai, the AIDWA held the fourth zonal conference in Viluppuram on December 29, 2003.

More than 300 delegates from Vellore, Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore and Viluppuram districts and from the neighbouring Pondicherry took part in this conference with enthusiasm. Amritam Ammal, a veteran AIDWA member and 87 years young, inaugurated the conference proceedings by hoisting the AIDWA flag. She has bravely faced caste oppression and the attacks let loose on Dalits in the village of Arasur in Viluppuram district. After the delegates had paid homage to the martyrs, a group of Dalit girls trained by Pramila, an office bearer of Viluppuram district unit of the AIDWA and one who runs a home for the elderly, rendered the song Vande Mataram in a dance form. A presidium consisting of Valentina (AIDWA state assistant secretary), Thenmozhi (president of AIDWA’s Viluppuram district unit) and Sakthi (AIDWA district office bearer in Viluppuram) was elected to conduct the conference proceedings.

MULTIPLE PROBLEMS

Delivering the inaugural address at the conference, AIDWA state president Sudha dwelt at length on the problems faced by Dalits and the AIDWA’s interventions in this regard. Narrating the AIDWA’s experience of struggles against oppression of Dalits in several districts, Sudha said caste oppression was a blot on society. She assured the delegates that AIDWA would stand up for the rights of Dalit women and continue to be in the forefront of struggles against caste oppression.

State AIDWA assistant secretary R Chandra presented a detailed analysis of the modes of oppression and the specific practices of discrimination in the seven districts from which the delegates were drawn, based on data obtained from questionnaires canvassed by AIDWA activists of these districts. She noted that though the hated “two glass” system --- the practice of serving tea for caste Hindus in one set of cups and for Dalits in a different set of cups --- was on the decline, it was still fairly widespread in Viluppuram district and Pondicherry. On the key issue of access to drinking water, the data indicate that Dalits face major caste based obstacles. In Arakonam taluk of Vellore district, caste Hindus dirty the water in their wells with dung when Dalits try to access water from them. According to Savariammal, a ward member, even panchayat leaders belonging to Dalit households are humiliated by the caste Hindus. In some villages, Dalits have to walk 9 km for hair cut as the local hair dresser would not accept Dalit customers. Cursing Dalits by using their caste name in a derogatory manner is widespread in all the seven districts. Sumathi of Pudupalayam has noted that, no matter how sick a Dalit may be in her/his village, no caste Hindu doctor would come to the Dalit settlement to examine the patient. In Karuvanur village in Sankarapuram taluk of Viluppuram district, upper caste teachers refer to Dalit children as dogs, and hail them only by this appellation.

Chandra noted that the data thrown up by the AIDWA survey make sad reading. Dalits cannot sit at bus stands and in teashops. They are not allowed to walk their cattle through the streets at the peasant festival of Pongal. They have to stand apart in ration shops or come on a different day from that on which the caste Hindus buy their rations. They do all the work at caste Hindu weddings, yet they have to receive food not on plates or banana leaves but in the folds of their dhotis and sarees. The shopkeeper charges them the same for their purchases as he charges others, or even more, but he would not receive the money from them directly, lest his caste purity be violated. One or more of these discriminatory practices is to be found in all the districts.

Discrimination against Dalits is not confined to life; it pursues them in death too. Cremation and burial are major problems, with both access and space often denied; bodies are to be buried in river sand in some places. This problem is almost universal in the districts studied. Then there is constant sexual violence against Dalit women, ranging from teasing and molestation to rape and gang rape. In Mangattucheri village in Arakonam taluk of Vellore district, Dalit girls are nominally married to the temple deity, and made available to caste Hindu landlords. An inter-caste marriage between a Dalit and a caste Hindu often leads to violent reprisals, sometimes resulting in deaths. Entry into temples is denied to Dalits. Even where they are admitted, it is only to clean the temple premises. They cannot come near the sanctum sanctorum.

Chandra concluded her presentation of the survey results with a strong reiteration of the AIDWA’s resolve to fight and to put these atrocities to an end.

SENSE OF OPTIMISM

A number of delegates participated in the ensuing discussion. Initiating the discussion, Sumathi of Ayyanampalayam narrated the 20 years long struggle for house-sites, and the insults and repression the struggle had to contend with. “Now that the AIDWA local unit had taken up the struggle,” Sumathi said, “we feel success is near at hand.” Like Sumathi, delegate after delegate narrated their experience of both oppression and struggle, and the varying degrees of success achieved.

A remarkable feature of the conference, in comparison with earlier conferences, was this: While in earlier conferences the delegates narrating harrowing experiences would break down, delegates in this conference spoke boldly, not breaking down even once, not even when reporting the most heinous atrocities they suffered. The delegates exuded a sense of optimism that with the AIDWA taking up the initiative, and with the support of the Left and progressive forces, they would be able to overcome the obstacles in their march to freedom and equality.

Balabharathi, another assistant secretary of the state AIDWA, a member of the Tamilnadu state committee of the CPI(M) and a member of the state legislative assembly from Dindigul constituency, greeted the conference. In her speech, she pointed out that the participation of more than 350 delegates in the conference --- most of them from among the rural poor and oppressed on caste, class and gender lines --- was proof of the confidence reposed by them in AIDWA. She hailed the conference as being not only against untouchability, but also as an important step in the struggle to realise the democratic demands of the oppressed. While rats and snails have “homes” provided by the nature, a large proportion of Dalits in Tamilnadu do not even have a roof over their heads. This is also the plight of a large numbers of pavement dwellers in urban areas. Dalits are being denied house-sites and their government built “colony houses” are located outside the caste Hindu village, thus legitimising discrimination. Balabharathi assured the delegates that the AIDWA would firmly stand by them in their struggle.

UNITY NEEDED TO FIGHT OPPRESSION

Delivering the valedictory address at the conference, state AIDWA general secretary and CPI(M) state committee member Vasuki noted that Dalits are at the bottom of our society’s pyramidical hierarchy. Dalit women are a further rung below, just below the Dalit men, as they face gender as well as caste and class oppression. Vasuki narrated the various hardships Dalits face in their daily life in various parts of rural Tamilnadu. She referred to the issue of extremely low wages in agriculture, especially for female workers. The government, she said, has abdicated its responsibilities. Dalit and poor women feel that the temple elephants are better off than they are; under the present government in the state, these elephants get a holiday at a hill station at state expense! Recalling the chief minister’s claim that she would convert her assembly constituency of Andipatti (“village of the destitute fakir”) into Arasipatti (“village of the queen”), Vasuki noted that the reality is that Dalit panchayat leaders cannot wear their footwear while passing through caste Hindu settlements; they must carry the footwear in their hands and walk barefooted! Vasuki stressed the need for unity in the struggle against caste oppression.

The conference concluded with an impressive rally and a public meeting. Among the thousands of marchers were hundreds of women carrying their babies and walking with pride for a cause all their own. There were children marching in front, so dressed as to convey the sentiments of religious and communal harmony. The public meeting, presided over by Thenmozhi (Viluppuram district president of the AIDWA), was addressed by Vasuki, Chandra, Balabharathi, Ambika (assistant secretary of state AIDWA), Geeta (Viluppuram district secretary, AIDWA) and K Balakrishnan (general secretary of the state unit of Kisan Sabha). Several important resolutions pertaining to the advancement of Dalit rights were passed. The conference has inspired the AIDWA activists to carry the struggle forward with vigour.