United Dalit Students’ Forum
The death of Ilavarasan must be a revelation for people who think we are a democratic society. Is there any society that kills couples who choose to live a life based on mutual consent? Yes, it’s our own “Mera Bharat Mahaan.” In spite of such savagery it does not prick the conscience of most people because we believe in the infallibility of the Vedas and the (a)dharma shastras that teach us that certain people are born from the head, some from the shoulders, some from the thighs and some from the feet of Brahma – the creator.
Most people believe in them without even questioning such nonsense. Ilavarasan and Divya married breaking the existing caste norms. Agitating against the marriage between the Dalit boy and the Vanniyar caste girl in November, the PMK hoodlums burnt down as many as 136 houses and destroyed 325 houses in three colonies of Natham, Anna Nagar and Kondampatti in Naikkankottai in Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu.
The punishment meted for caste transgression is death as prescribed in the Manu Daharmashastra. In the Ramayana we are aware Shambuk who was meditating was being killed by Rama for going out of his caste Dharma.There are many such examples throughout if we critically look at our country’s history. Even in contemporary society, we are not free from the shackles of the rules prescribed for each caste. Every day we hear about couples being killed for breaking the caste boundaries and marrying.
To democratise this barbaric society of ours we adopted the Indian Constitution drafted by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, which recognizes that all humans are equal and provides certain safeguards for the weaker sections of society to catch up with the rest. Access to education and the freedom to work is facilitating people from all walks of life to come together and is helping to break the caste and religious barriers. Through reservations, the Dalits (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), Other Backward Classes and women have been able to progress a little and make a small dent to the otherwise rigid Indian Caste Structure – no religion in India is free from the Caste Hierarchy.
But there are counter-progressive organizations that are working to enforce the laws of Manu and preserve the pristine Caste System in India. In the North, it is the Khap Panchayats with the tacit support of the RSS and its allied organsations and in the South – it is the Katta Panchayats with the outright support of parties like Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). It is high time the parties that have the legacy of Periyar should come out from their slumber and set right the deviation in their path.
Destroy the Barbaric Manu Dharma! Annihilate Caste!!
Long live the struggle against all kinds of oppression!!!
United Dalit (SC/ST) Students’ Forum, JNU.
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