The rising number of crimes against members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) are alarming, and the Tamil Nadu government should immediately declare Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Pudukottai as ‘caste atrocity-prone’ districts, demanded A. Kathir, executive director, Evidence, a Madurai based NGO that works towards the protection and promotion of Dalit and tribal rights.
Speaking to media persons on Monday, November 6, 2023, Mr. Kathir said that the death by suicide of a 16-year-old boy from Koppampatti village in Pudukottai district on Saturday (November 4), was an example of atrocities against the SCs. “The boy’s crime was speaking to a girl who was of an intermediate caste. Is this a crime,” he asked
Educational institutions in districts like Pudukottai, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi are filled with caste conflicts, Mr. Kathir alleged. The Tamil Nadu government and the Minister concerned in these matters have miserably failed to contain the spread of violence against Dalits in school campuses. While Dravidian parties showered encomiums on (late leaders) Periyar and Anna for their ideologies, such atrocities taking place in the same soil these leaders hailed from, was shameful and distressing, he said.
