Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) has complained that Arunthathiyars are subjected to different forms of untouchability by caste Hindus in Aviyur in Virudhunagar district.
In a memorandum addressed to the Virudhunagar Collector and the Superintendent of Police, TNUEF district unit leader K. Murugan said Kariyapatti Circle police were also promoting untouchability.
He said some 100 Arunthathiyar families living in Aviyur planned a sprout-pot (mulaipari) procession during Kaliamman temple festival held on June 9 and 10. They submitted a petition to Kariyapatti Circle police on June 2, seeking permission.
Stating that caste Hindus were objecting to their procession, which was a new practice, the police denied permission for the procession.
“The police personnel deployed near the temple forced the Scheduled Caste people to put the sprout pots into a well without taking out the procession,” Mr. Murugan said.
Subsequently, the SC people lodged a complaint with the Collector on June 12. Irked over the development, caste Hindus reportedly ordered a social boycott of Arunthathiyars, following which local shops denied them goods.
After Arunthathiyars preferred a second complaint on June 20, Kariyapatti Tahsildar visited the village instructed shop owners not to boycott the SC people.
A survey conducted by the TNEUF in Aviyur revealed different forms of untouchability being practised there.
“Arunthathiyars are not allowed to sit on chairs and eat in an eatery. Similarly, we are offered tea only in disposable cups in a tea stall whereas caste Hindus are served tea in stainless steel glasses,” G. Poopandi (62), a local resident, said.
They were not allowed to take out procession with seer (gifts) through the streets as practised by other communities, he complained.
A team of Athi Tamilar Katchi too conducted an enquiry about untouchability in Aviyur. Its Virudhunagar East district president S. Sundararajan said SC people were subjected to a lot of atrocities for years. The people want a high-level team to inspect the village to ascertain truth.
The TNUEF asked the district administration to take action against the perpetrators under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Virudhunagar SP R. Srinivasa Perumal said the SC people were allowed to put the sprout pots into a well. “But, they insisted on taking out a procession through a particular street which could have triggered a law and order problem,” he said. The tea stall owner who served tea to SC people in disposable cups had agreed not to discriminate people on caste lines, he added.