60 Dalits walk with slippers on dominant caste street, end years of scourge in TN village

TIRUPPUR:  For the first time in their living memory, 60 Dalits from Rajavur village of Madathukulam taluk of Tiruppur district walked wearing footwear on ‘Kambala Naicken Street’ in the village late on Sunday.  By doing so, they broke the unwritten rule of the upper castes that barred Dalits from walking on the street with slippers. Scheduled Caste members are not even allowed to ride cycles on the street, sources said.

All the 60 residents of the 300-metre-long street are Naickers, a Backward Caste community. Of the nearly 900 households in the village, 800 belong to dominant castes such as Gounders and Naickers.  Narrating the ordeal shared through generations, A Muruganandam (51), a villager, said,

“Arunthathiyar community members were barred from walking with slippers on the street. SC members were given death threats and were also assaulted. Even upper-caste women issued threats, saying that a local deity would bring death to SC members if they walked with slippers on the street. We were avoiding the street and living under oppression for decades. A few weeks ago, we brought the issue to the notice of Dalit outfits,” another villager said.

‘Even after walk, dalits still in fear ’

“Late on Sunday, we walked through the street with slippers and ended the decades-long oppression,” yet another villager said.

Another SC community member said, “When untouchability was banned after Independence, members of the dominant caste conjured up a story to perpetuate the practice, saying that a voodoo doll has been buried under the street and if SC people walked on the street with slippers, they will die within three months. Some SC members believed those stories and started walking without slippers, and the practice continues to this day.”

Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (Tiruppur) secretary CK Kanagaraj said, “Last week, we went to the village and several Dalit women said they cannot even enter that particular street. We decided to launch a protest, but the police refused permission and asked us to postpone. We accepted that request. But members of our front along with functionaries of CPM, VCK, and ATP decided to walk through the street and enter Rajakaliamman temple in the village which has remained out of bounds for Dalits.”

“On Sunday evening, around 60 Dailts walked on the street with slippers and nobody stopped us. The entire event was monitored by local police. Even after organising the walk, some Dalits are still in fear and we hope our walk will boost their confidence,” he added.

This article is originally published on https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2023/dec/26/60-dalits-walk-with-slippers-on-dominant-caste-street-end-years-of-scourge-in-tn-village-2644949.html