Since 1967, Tamil Nadu has witnessed atrocities against Dalits, but it’s still being treated as a mere law and order problem and not as caste Hindu hate politics. Over the years, the violence against Dalits has been normalised. These incidents have exposed the ugly truth behind the much-hyped social justice claim in Tamil Nadu. The lukewarm response to these inhuman acts by governments is alarming. Crores of taxpayers’ money has been spent on constituting judicial inquiry commissions but there is hardly any concrete measures to implement the recommendations.
In this context, the opinion piece – Caste violence should be classified as an act of terrorism – by VCK MP D Ravikumar, drew my attention. Ravikumar’s article begins on a positive note regarding the State-Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting held in April 2023 chaired by the Chief Minister MK Stalin. But the MP did not mention that the vigilance committee meeting was held after a long gap of many years. The committee, which convenes under the chairmanship of CM Stalin, is supposed to be a bi-annual meet to review the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989.
In the past, both the DMK and the AIADMK did not convene periodic meetings, which is mandatory under the Act. This is crucial information related to the atrocities against Dalits. Why has the MP concealed such a vital fact? We don't know. However, there is a huge difference between the Tamil version of the same article published in news portal Arunchol. What could be the reason for this omission by D Ravikumar?
Besides mentioning the intervention and a few demands made by VCK President Thol. Thirumavalavan, the article is also conspicuously silent about what transpired at the committee meeting. The public at large do not know what was the response of the CM of Tamil Nadu and other members at the meeting.
Abruptly, Ravikumar jumps into the 1950s history and then mentions certain official statistics related to caste atrocities. This information is available in the public domain and has been revealed by umpteen number of organisations and studies. What is the need for reiterating them instead of dealing with the real issues at hand?
Evidence Kathir, who has been consistently working and providing training to various stakeholders for the prevention of caste discrimination and atrocities against Dalits, said, "Since the inception of the Act, State-level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meetings were held only seven times. Actually, more than 60 meetings should have been conducted. As per the Act, it is mandatory to meet twice a year.”
Ravikumar consciously avoids describing even a single case of caste Hindu barbarity despite meticulous reporting of these grave crimes against the Dalits by some of the media. Despite his empty rhetoric about terrorism and its definition, there is hardly any mention of a recent crime against Dalits.
Surprisingly, there is no mention of even the Vengaivayal barbarity, Nanguneri brutality, Krishnagiri and Perambalur atrocities, some of which were perpetrated by caste-arrogant goons of the Dravidian parties leading to cold-blooded murders.
Rather, he has chosen to defend the lukewarm and lackadaisical response of the DMK government with this statement: "Despite the earnest efforts of the Tamil Nadu government, crimes against the Scheduled Caste (SC) community continues to escalate. This is primarily due to law enforcement agencies viewing caste atrocities as a social concern rather than a criminal offence."
How could he perceive that increasing violence against Dalits is due to the failure of enforcement agencies and not perceive them as a failure of the ruling political party? Who controls such agencies? Surely, Ravikumar can't be ignorant of these facts. The issues of caste atrocities and discrimination are socio-political issues. Therefore, the government of the day cannot pass the responsibility of inaction against these crimes merely to law and enforcement agencies.
He further states, "It is imperative for the Tamil Nadu government to proactively categorise hate crimes, including caste-based offences, as acts of terrorism. Perpetrators should be prosecuted under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), providing a viable strategy to effectively combat caste terrorism." Is Ravikumar suggesting annulment of the Prevention of SC/ST Atrocity Act? The way he suggested that Adi Dravida Welfare schools be merged with government schools? Or is he suggesting there are glaring weaknesses in the existing PoA Act?
In a way, this piece seems to be an act of providing a clean chit by Ravikumar to the government. It is written with the fallacious assumption that the DMK government is making great efforts to prevent atrocities against Dalits. Vengaivayal barbarity happened last December. Was there any mention of this crime in the Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting? If yes, was there any discussion about it? He is silent on these vital facts. Such articulation coming from the DMK is understandable but coming from the VCK MP appears to be very strange.
The need of the hour is not to invoke the draconian UAPA Act, but to hold a reconciliation process amongst the communities in Tamil Nadu.
Chinnaiyan Lakshmanan is the Convener of National Dalit Intellectual Collective and retired Associate Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies. Opinions expressed are his own. He has been consistently intervening with numerous fact finding reports on violence against Dalit and discrimination in educational institutions.
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