The woman, an elected panchayat leader, said she was being discriminated against
Chennai:
A photograph showing an elected panchayat woman leader sitting on the ground during a meeting that she should preside over, while others sit in chairs, has sparked outrage in Tamil Nadu and exposed deep-rooted discriminatory practices.
The district collector in Cuddalore of Tamil Nadu, where the incident occurred, suspended the secretary of the panchayat and ordered an investigation after the photograph appeared on social media.
The woman seen in the photograph of the president of the panchayat of the village of Therku Thittai and belongs to the Adi Dravida community, a programmed caste. She was chosen for her position, a reserved seat, last year.
“Because of my caste the vice president will not let me preside over the meeting. He did not even let me raise the flag. He made his father do it. Although I have been cooperating with the upper castes all these months, now he is going overboard.” ,” she said.
Speaking to NDTV, Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri, the district collector, said: “We are investigating the case and will have clarity in a few hours. The secretary was suspended because she did not inform the authorities about this alleged discrimination.”
Despite laws prohibiting untouchability and caste-based discrimination, they are still practiced in Tamil Nadu, with restrictions on kitchen utensils and tableware (“upper castes” refuse to eat food prepared by “lower castes “or they use plates and glasses that they use) and to dress among others.
In many villages there are also designated areas for registered castes to live and they are not allowed to wear shoes when passing through areas where the “higher castes” live. In the past, many have been caught on camera with slippers in hand in those areas.
Until a decade ago, three reserved village panchayats – Pappapatti, Keeripatti, and Nattarmangalam in the Madurai district – had no Programmed Caste candidates opposing out of fear of backlash from the ruling castes.
Those who dared to compete and win were forced to resign, mocking the electoral reservation system to politically empower men and women from oppressed communities.
Women in these communities continue to suffer sexual abuse.
In the Tuticorin district there have even been reports of dogs adopted by members of oppressed communities being forced to stay away from those adopted by “higher castes”.
There are also separate cremation grounds.
The programmed caste communities are politically divided and are not a strong vote bank. Dravidian political parties in the state are unwilling to crack down on these atrocities as the “upper castes” are, on the contrary, a strong bank of votes.
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