DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

alleged that the caste Hindus were planting the saplings to prevent land from being acquired fordistribution among Adi Dravidars. Already two acres of temple land had been acquired by the governmentfrom Hindu Religious and Endowment Board and distributed among 36 Adi Dravida families. The HinduReligious and Charitable Endowments Department removed the saplings and the huts, and put up aboard cautioning against such activities. Eight persons, four from each community, were arrested andremanded. After this, the caste Hindus started boycotting the Dalits by not procuring milk for a private milkdepot owned by a caste Hindu and stopped providing groceries from three shops of caste Hindus. Basedon a petition lodged by V. Madhaiyan (38) of a Dalit colony, Mahendramangalam police have arrested thefour caste Hindus and registered a case under Sections 505 (2) (promoting enmity between communities)and 3 (X and XIV) of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. All the four were produced before the PalacodeMagistrate and remanded. (The Hindu 29/9/13)Caste clashes trigger violence in Govt Law College (2)COIMBATORE: Four dalit students of Government Law College, Coimbatore, were brutally assaulted bya group of non-dalit students and some hired goons with deadly weapons inside the college premises onMonday afternoon. The armed gang damaged three motorcycles and burnt another two-wheeler. Theyvandalized the student hostel and managed to escape in two vehicles before police arrived on the scene.More than 50 police personnel were deployed at the college campus and the college principal declared aholiday on Tuesday. The injured students have been identified as Murugesan, Anandaraj, Azhagurajaand Kalaiyarasan. Murugesan, a second year student of BABL, was assaulted by the gang with a sickle inhis classroom. Anandaraj and other dalit students, who were near the main gate of the college, werechased by the armed gang and they ran towards the student hostel. Anandaraj had locked the main doorof the hostel. But the gang damaged the door and continued to assault him. Another dalit student,Azhaguraja, was attacked with a sword while he was entering the college campus. He sustained injurieson the left side of his chest. Kalaiyarasan sustained minor injuries on his forehead. Anandaraj,Azhaguraja and Murugesan have been admitted at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) andKalaiyarasan received treatment as an outpatient. "Students from Thevar, Gounder and Vanniyarcommunities have formed a non-dalit student's forum inside the college campus and political parties aresupporting them. The dalit students are unable to roam freely outside the college campus," said astudent. Consequently, the 45 dalit students plan to get their transfer certificate from the collegemanagement. M Sudhir, principal, Government Law College, notified the Vadavalli police station when theviolence broke out. Immediately ADSP P Muthuraj, Perur sub-division DSP Thangadurai, Vadavalliinspector (in charge) Vivekanandan, Madukkarai police inspector Vinod and other police officers rushedto the spot. But the culprits escaped before the officers arrived. A motorcycle was damaged by the armedgang and it was found in front of the college main entrance. Another motorcycle was burnt near thestudent's hostel. Two more motorcycles parked inside the hostel campus were also damaged. "There wasprevious enmity between students who belonged to different communities. We have deployed policepersonnel and the culprits will be arrested soon," said DSP Thangadurai. "We have declared one dayleave on Tuesday. We hope to solve the problem within a couple of days. We will suspend the studentswho indulged in the attack," said M Sudhir, principal of the college. The violence was triggered after twostudents of BABL had a fall out on Friday. Sargunam, a second year dalit student of BABL had previousenmity with Nishanth as he did not like being teased by Nishanth and his friends. On September 27, a fewseniors intervened and patched things up between them. On Saturday, six students attacked Sargunamand his friend Pradeep Kumar with an iron rod and wooden logs inside the college campus. Meanwhile, atwelve member gang on Sargunam's side attacked Nishanth and five others. Based on the complaint,Vadavalli police registered a case against 18 students from both the sides. All of them have beensuspended by the college management. (Times of India 1/10/13)‘A conspiracy of silence against Dalit victims’ (2)