The Dalit Intellectual Collective on Saturday urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the increasing instances of atrocities against persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste in the State.
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In a statement, the organisation’s convenor, C. Lakshmanan, said the “unabated atrocities” against Dalits in the State were not merely a law and order problem, but also “hate politics by caste Hindus”. The violence against Dalits has been normalised and now formed a part of Tamil Nadu’s “political culture” because of which any solution to casteist atrocities should be political as well, he added.
The statement listed atrocities in the past one week, including the violence against Dalits at Sokkadi village in Krishnagiri district in which a local AIADMK functionary was allegedly involved; the incident at Perambalur district in which a Dalit panchayat president from BJP was assaulted and allegedly prevented by a group of men from the DMK from taking part in an auction; and the assault on two Dalit youths in Tirunelveli district.
According to the statement, these incidents exposed the “ugly truth” behind the “much-hyped social justice in Tamil Nadu”, and though a lot of money had been spent on judicial commissions for probing into such incidents, no concrete action was taken.
Alleging that the DMK government’s response to the recent incidents has been inadequate, the organisation urged Mr. Stalin to ask his party functionaries, through a public statement, to refrain from “acting against” or “humiliating” the Dalits.