The lady, an elected panchayat chief mentioned she was being discriminated in opposition to
Chennai:
exhibiting an elected girl panchayat chief sitting on the ground throughout a gathering she should preside over – whereas others sit on chairs – has sparked outrage in Tamil Nadu and uncovered the deeply entrenched discriminative practices.
The District Collector in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore, the place the incident came about, has suspended the panchayat’s secretary and ordered a probe after the photograph emerged on social media.
The lady seen within the photograph of the President of the Therku Thittai village panchayat and belongs to the Adi Dravida group, a Scheduled Caste. She was elected to her publish – a reserved seat – final yr.
“Due to my caste the Vice President doesn’t let me preside over assembly. He didn’t even let me hoist the flag. He made his father do it. Though I used to be cooperating with the higher castes all these months, it’s going overboard now,” she mentioned.
Chatting with NDTV, Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri, the District Collector, mentioned: “We’re investigating the case and can have readability in a number of hours. The secretary was suspended as a result of she failed to tell authorities about this alleged discrimination.”
Regardless of legal guidelines banning untouchability and caste-based discrimination, these are nonetheless practiced throughout Tamil Nadu, with restrictions on cooking utensils and crockery (“higher castes” refuse to eat meals ready by the “decrease castes” or use plates and glasses they use) and dressing amongst others.
In lots of villages there are additionally designated areas for Scheduled Castes to reside and they aren’t allowed put on footwear after they cross by means of areas the place the “higher castes” reside. Up to now many have been caught on digital camera carrying slippers of their fingers in these areas.
Till a decade in the past three reserved village panchayats – Pappapatti, Keeripatti and Nattarmangalam in Madurai district – had no Scheduled Caste candidates contesting out of worry of the dominant castes’ backlash.
Those that dared to contest and win have been compelled to resign, making a mockery of the electoral reservation system to politically empower women and men from oppressed communities.
Girls from these communities proceed to be sexually abused.
In Tuticorin district there have even been stories of canine adopted by members of the oppressed communities being compelled to keep away from these adopted by the “higher castes”.
There are additionally separate cremation grounds.
The Scheduled Caste communities are politically divided and should not robust vote financial institution. The Dravidian political events within the state are unwilling to crackdown on these atrocities because the “higher castes” are, in contrast, a powerful vote financial institution.
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