Friday, Sep 10, 2004
Friday, Sep 10, 2004 |
| Tamil Nadu | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Tamil Nadu
By Our Staff Reporter
MADURAI, SEPT. 9. The holding of elections to the reserved village panchayats of Pappapatti, Keeripatti and Nattamangalam in Madurai district and Kottakatchiyendal in Virudhunagar district, has become a farce because anti-social elements who disrupted the democratic poll process in the past are still ruling the roost, the Dalit Panthers of India general secretary, Thol. Tirumavalavan, told presspersons here today. Reacting to the State Election Commission's decision to hold "casual elections" for 1,000 odd vacancies in the local bodies, Mr. Tirumavalavan said it was an "eyewash." Conducting elections without reining in the anti-social elements would only make the exercise a gimmick. He said the Dalits were unable to contest the elections and continued to be intimidated. Poonkodi of Keeripatti and Subban of Pappapatti faced threat to their lives and were being prevented from entering their villages since the past two-and-a-half years. If the Dalits were `terrorised' none would come forward to even file nomination papers and if this trend continued, there would be no meaning in conducting the elections, he said. If the Election Commission and the State were really serious about holding elections to the controversial panchayats, stern measures should be taken to rein in the anti-social elements. Appropriate action should be initiated against police officials who failed to prevent atrocities on the Dalits or register cases, he said.
Stir on September 15
If the Government went ahead with the election process, it should permit the candidates to file nomination papers at the Collectorate so that they were not intimidated in their villages. The DPI would stage a demonstration here on September 15, urging the Government to take action against those who were bent on disrupting the process. He said the State Government's ambition of making Tamil Nadu the number one State would be far from reality so long as the Dalits and the oppressed sections were uplifted. He sought implementation of the special component scheme for the Dalits. A special law should be enacted favouring grant of relief to farmers during drought, akin to the scheme implemented for fishermen during lean seasons, he said.
Sethusamudram project
On the Sethusamudram project, he said several political parties were pressing for its implementation and they even raised the issue in the Assembly and Parliament.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
