Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Court warns Caste Hindus

MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday warned Caste Hindus of Irunjirai in Tiruchuli taluk of Virudhunagar district against preventing a village washerman and two barbers from offering their services to Dalits.

A Division Bench of Justices D. Murugesan and S. Nagamuthu gave a month’s time to Collector Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan to persuade the Caste Hindus to voluntarily give up the discrimination against Dalits.

“The indulgence shown towards the district administration should not be construed as if such persuasion efforts will continue forever. This court will definitely come to the rescue of the Scheduled Caste people if others do not relent,” the judges observed.

The Bench was seized of a public interest litigation petition filed by a Dalit villager. The Collector was present in the court as per directions issued to her on November 18. She also filed a report based on her inspection of the village on November 21.

The report stated that there were 63 Dalit families and 300 non-Dalit families in the village. As of now, four of the five issues raised by the petitioner had been solved. The Dalits were now being served at tea stalls and grocery stores. They were allowed to use their footwear while walking along common village pathway and there were no problems regarding employment on agricultural lands.

Only the washerman and hairdressers were reluctant to offer their services to the Dalits fearing that they might have to lose a large clientele of Caste Hindus, who had threatened to boycott them if they served the Dalits.

“It is a clear case of caste traditions denying, in practice, a right that is guaranteed by the law of the land. Ego issues and economic considerations have overshadowed the original politico-caste issue,” Ms. Vaidhyan said in her report.

Pointing out that all residents of Irunjirai were poor, she said that economic hardship and idleness had stoked caste animosity. She sought three months’ time “to appeal to the good sense of the rustic heart, heal the wounds and weave the Irunchirai village community into the web of unity through moral/legal measures.”

After perusing the report, Mr. Justice Murugesan told petitioner’s counsel P. Rathinam that cases of caste prejudices such as the present one could not be solved by the court straightaway by issuing directions to the officials. “It all depends upon the mindset of people. Directing the Collector to take action against the 300 families is not going to help. If some orders are passed due to over anxiety, it may not be in the interest of Dalits, who are a minority.”

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