In the aftermath of the verdict in the murder of Dalit youth Gokul Raj by casteist forces, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front general secretary Samuel Raj on Monday said a separate law to tackle and prevent caste-related violence was necessary in Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Raj contended that the recent verdict was a result of “persistent individual legal struggle” by lawyer B.B. Mohan and not due to any effort taken by the State government or the judiciary towards resolving the issue of caste killing.
“This is an old demand that we are reiterating again. We want to tell the State government that this is a victory of a single man’s persistent and individual legal struggle rather than that of the judiciary or steps taken by State government. We would like to know what the State government was planning to address this issue. What would have happened if Mr. Mohan didn’t wage this struggle? This is why we are demanding a separate law,” he told The Hindu.
A resolution passed at a meeting addressed by Mr. Raj on Monday pointed out that the Madras High Court’s 2016 verdict in Usilampatti Vimaladevi caste killing recommended enactment of a separate law to prevent murders of inter-caste couples and an eight-point guideline to protect the couples.
“The State government has not created special cells based on the guidelines. Despite the State government stating, in reply to the writ petition filed by TNUEF in 2017, that the special cells have been created and furnished phone numbers of officers’ in charge in each district, the caste-murders have continued unabated. In response to the query by TNUEF under the RTI Act about the functioning of special cells, there was no response. Erode’s Deputy Commissioner S. Anandkumar responded to the query by saying that no cases have been registered since the creation of special cells. This is the approach of the State administration regarding the issue,” the resolution said.
The resolution added Tamil Nadu government must take into account the Private Member’s bill introduced by CPI(M)’s floor leader A. Soundararajan in 2015 named ‘Prevention of murder, crime and compulsion in the name of Honour and Tradition 2015’ Bill and enact a law to prevent caste-killings.
