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It was 5 am on Monday, 2 December when 21-year-old Divya was informed of the devastation that had taken place merely 100 metres from her home in Mettupalayam. The resident of Nadur village in Coimbatore district rushed out of her home, after a night of heavy rains, to witness a terrifying sight.
Divya is part of the 300 Dalit families that live in Kannappan Nagar, several of whom lived in tiled houses. And while every monsoon brought with it the problem of leaking roofs and flooding, their real fear, she says, was the compound wall erected by a neighbour right behind the houses, eight years ago.
"I have been living here for four years since my marriage and my relatives have always complained about the instability of the wall and fear of it falling," she says, her voice choked with emotion. "The elders have all gone to the authorities multiple times to complain about this, but there has been no change. I thought they were just being unnecessarily worried and that nothing will happen but I was wrong," she laments.
As the initial shock over the loss of lives because of the wall's collapse wears off, members of Kannappan Nagar point out that the wall was a physical manifestation of the caste discrimination that actually killed the 17 Dalits residents.
The compound wall was built by the owner of the plot Sivasubramaniam, a textile shop owner, who raised its height from 8 feet to a looming 20 feet despite protests from the Dalit community. Moreover, it was made of basalt rock or Karungal and sources in the Municipality tell TNM that the structure did not have the requisite approvals.
Residents allege that the wall’s height was increased because the owner did not want any Dalits to gain access into his grounds.
Political parties that represent oppressed communities and anti-caste activists from the state have termed the structure responsible for the tragedy a 'caste wall'. In Tamil Nadu, caste walls were traditionally built to keep Dalits out of caste Hindu temples and to deprive them of access to roads, pathways and essential services.
"The front portion of Sivasubramaniam's house does not have such a tall wall. It is only in the back where the Dalits live, that he chose to construct such a tall wall, despite their protests. This is an example of Untouchability," says I Pandiyan, from Witness, an anti-discrimination NGO.
Bringing the matter to the Centre's attention, Lok Sabha MP and VCK leader D Ravikumar meanwhile wrote to the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment alleging that it was an 'Untouchability' wall that led to the death of 17 Dalit residents in the village. He further pointed out that victims and activists who protested the caste discrimination were arrested by the police on Monday.
He further requested the Minister to depute the Chairman of the Scheduled Communities Commission to visit Nadur for a study and to order a full-fledged inquiry.
When questioned about the presence of the 'caste' wall, sources in the Municipal Corporation say that it cannot be defined as such as it existed on private property.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami who visited the families of the victims, meanwhile declined to comment on allegations of discrimination and assured the public that action will be taken as per the law.
(Published in arrangement with The News Minute)
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