07-22-2005, 05:53 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalits oppressing other Dalits
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main13.asp?fi...ont_look_at.asp
UNTOUCHABLES PART-I
Don't look at us, we are cursed
Meet the Puthirai Vannars, the outcastes of Tamil Nadu. A community that has
been suffering in silence for ages, in perpetual bondage to the dalits, and
living in isolation on the fringes of dalit colonies
By PC Vinoj Kumar
Chennai
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa should read this. This is bound to
infuriate her if she really meant what she said a few years ago while seeking
votes in Andipatti, that she believes in only one caste: the human caste. It is
bad enough that dalits cannot become presidents in reserved panchayats in Tamil
Nadu. But shamefully, things are worse for another invisible community living in
the state, a faceless, diminished people who are not even a 'mere vote bank' for
political parties. A people she may not even know - that they actually exist!
This is something that is hard to believe. A sin that has been covered up for
much too long. Unlike the oppressive patterns prevalent in the nation's caste
society, here the sinned are the sinners! This is the tale of a people who are
'untouchables' even for the 'historical' untouchables. A shocking revelation of
a people twice discriminated and daily trampled over.
Meet the Puthirai Vannars, the dhobis for the dalits of Tamil Nadu. A community
that's been suffering in silence for ages, in perpetual bondage to the dalits,
and living in isolation as 'outcastes' on the fringes of dalit colonies. Denied
human rights and self-respect, there is no political leader or party or
democratic institution to speak up for them in this big democracy that is India.
Condemned and mute, for centuries, they have been washing the clothes of the
dalits, giving them haircuts, slaughtering dead cattle, and doing other menial
jobs. To this day, they wash the bloodstained clothes of dalit women in labour,
and the clothes of dalit girls who attain puberty. Worse, till a few decades
ago, they were shunned as 'unseeables'. It was a curse to even 'look' at them.
In those days, the Vannars had to complete their work in the night and stay out
of sight of the other castes in the daytime.
If they ventured out during the day, they had to tie a coconut leaf to their
body, which they pulled along wherever they went. The frond swept the ground and
wiped out their footmarks. They could not even spit on the ground as the others
did so routinely. Instead, they had to spit into a halved coconut shell, which
hung from their necks. "This horrible practice had been in vogue for hundreds of
years. It was the Justice Party that enacted a law abolishing it in 1932. Once
declared illegal, the practice slowly faded out," says TM Prakash, a social
activist working among Puthirai Vannars in the dalit-dominated Tiruvannamalai
district. Not much headway has been made after that landmark social reform.
Today, an estimated two million people from this community are living in the
state. "Though we are found in most districts, about 50 percent of the
population lives in Virudhunagar, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai districts. Our
people are slaves of the dalits - to the Parayars in northern districts, to the
Pallars in southern districts, and to the Arunthathiyars in western districts,"
says SB Udhaya Kumar of Ramnad, an upcoming leader from the community.
Slaves they are. You have heard of the dictum 'no work, no pay'. But for the
Puthirai Vannars it is all work and no pay. "They are treated like bonded
labourers," says Arul Valan, a Catholic priest in Villupuram, who is fighting
for their rights. "Each family of Puthirai Vannar works for a certain number of
dalit families in a village. They work hard round the year, washing their
clothes and doing other menial jobs that is required of them by tradition. But
they don't receive their wages in cash. Once in a year, each dalit household
they work for, gives them about 25 kilos of paddy. That's about it," he says.
There is of course the daily allowance - again in kind. It is the traditional
practice of Puthirai Vannars to go around the dalit homes, every morning and
evening, begging for food. Rosamma from Cuddalore says, "We cry out standing
outside the dalit houses, 'amma, soru podunga amma' (amma, please give some
food.) They give us leftover food which we collect in a vessel." For many, it's
a daily khichdi meal - of leftover food from dalit houses. Though in some
villages this shameful practice has finally ended, in many others the tradition
still continues. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main13.asp?fi...ont_look_at.asp
UNTOUCHABLES PART-I
Don't look at us, we are cursed
Meet the Puthirai Vannars, the outcastes of Tamil Nadu. A community that has
been suffering in silence for ages, in perpetual bondage to the dalits, and
living in isolation on the fringes of dalit colonies
By PC Vinoj Kumar
Chennai
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa should read this. This is bound to
infuriate her if she really meant what she said a few years ago while seeking
votes in Andipatti, that she believes in only one caste: the human caste. It is
bad enough that dalits cannot become presidents in reserved panchayats in Tamil
Nadu. But shamefully, things are worse for another invisible community living in
the state, a faceless, diminished people who are not even a 'mere vote bank' for
political parties. A people she may not even know - that they actually exist!
This is something that is hard to believe. A sin that has been covered up for
much too long. Unlike the oppressive patterns prevalent in the nation's caste
society, here the sinned are the sinners! This is the tale of a people who are
'untouchables' even for the 'historical' untouchables. A shocking revelation of
a people twice discriminated and daily trampled over.
Meet the Puthirai Vannars, the dhobis for the dalits of Tamil Nadu. A community
that's been suffering in silence for ages, in perpetual bondage to the dalits,
and living in isolation as 'outcastes' on the fringes of dalit colonies. Denied
human rights and self-respect, there is no political leader or party or
democratic institution to speak up for them in this big democracy that is India.
Condemned and mute, for centuries, they have been washing the clothes of the
dalits, giving them haircuts, slaughtering dead cattle, and doing other menial
jobs. To this day, they wash the bloodstained clothes of dalit women in labour,
and the clothes of dalit girls who attain puberty. Worse, till a few decades
ago, they were shunned as 'unseeables'. It was a curse to even 'look' at them.
In those days, the Vannars had to complete their work in the night and stay out
of sight of the other castes in the daytime.
If they ventured out during the day, they had to tie a coconut leaf to their
body, which they pulled along wherever they went. The frond swept the ground and
wiped out their footmarks. They could not even spit on the ground as the others
did so routinely. Instead, they had to spit into a halved coconut shell, which
hung from their necks. "This horrible practice had been in vogue for hundreds of
years. It was the Justice Party that enacted a law abolishing it in 1932. Once
declared illegal, the practice slowly faded out," says TM Prakash, a social
activist working among Puthirai Vannars in the dalit-dominated Tiruvannamalai
district. Not much headway has been made after that landmark social reform.
Today, an estimated two million people from this community are living in the
state. "Though we are found in most districts, about 50 percent of the
population lives in Virudhunagar, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai districts. Our
people are slaves of the dalits - to the Parayars in northern districts, to the
Pallars in southern districts, and to the Arunthathiyars in western districts,"
says SB Udhaya Kumar of Ramnad, an upcoming leader from the community.
Slaves they are. You have heard of the dictum 'no work, no pay'. But for the
Puthirai Vannars it is all work and no pay. "They are treated like bonded
labourers," says Arul Valan, a Catholic priest in Villupuram, who is fighting
for their rights. "Each family of Puthirai Vannar works for a certain number of
dalit families in a village. They work hard round the year, washing their
clothes and doing other menial jobs that is required of them by tradition. But
they don't receive their wages in cash. Once in a year, each dalit household
they work for, gives them about 25 kilos of paddy. That's about it," he says.
There is of course the daily allowance - again in kind. It is the traditional
practice of Puthirai Vannars to go around the dalit homes, every morning and
evening, begging for food. Rosamma from Cuddalore says, "We cry out standing
outside the dalit houses, 'amma, soru podunga amma' (amma, please give some
food.) They give us leftover food which we collect in a vessel." For many, it's
a daily khichdi meal - of leftover food from dalit houses. Though in some
villages this shameful practice has finally ended, in many others the tradition
still continues. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->