[Via Ravi Chandran]
On December 26, 2012, Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam will join hands with all other like minded progressive organizations who are concerned about annihilating caste, and agitate by burning down the Manu Dharma Shastra.
Statement by Kolathur Mani:
For more than 2000 years, the brahminical Manu Dharma was the one that was controlling the people as the unwritten law. The Indian Constitution came into force in 1950. This constitution too did not render complete justice to the people. Though this constitution bans untouchability, it preserves caste. By saying that customs and practices are not be changed, it upholds conservatism – Brahminism. But still, the constitution did not accept the basic social differences that the Manu dharma forced upon the people.
The Manu dharma states that all people cannot be equal. But the constitution says that all people are equal before law.
Manu dharma denied the right of education to the Shudras. But the constitution says that all between the ages of 6 and 14 should be provided with free and compulsory education.
Manu dharma states that girls should be married away at a very early age (Child marriage). But the constitution says that it is a crime to marry away a girl before the age of 18.
Manu dharma states that shudras and panchamas should not rule a country. But the constitution provides the right to anybody and everybody who is elected by the people to rule the country.
Manu dharma determines your occupation based on birth. But the constitution allows anybody to practice any occupation of her choice within the limits of law.
Hence, as the Manu dharma prescribes different types of justice for different classes of people, it is totally against the aim and sense of the constitution. As such, Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam insists that Manu dharma be banned.
In order to take forward the aim of the constitution and to implement it properly, a movement against the thoughts of Manu dharma is essential. In this situation, the action of the Brahmins and their supporters to print and spread Manu dharma, is not only against the spirit of the constitution but also an attempt to strengthen the path of Manu dharma.
Though the constitution says that untouchability is a crime, the fact that it is practised and forced upon in different forms, without any concern for the constitution, is listed down by us. We insist that the above resolutions be implemented. Also, if the Tamil Nadu Government does not take necessary action to implement the action plans put forth by Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam to annihilate Caste-Untouchability, on the day Periyar, in order to annihilate caste, burnt down that portion of the constitution that preserves caste, on Nov 26 (postponed to December 26th – Editor’s note), Dravida Viduthalai Kazhagam will join hands with all other like-minded progressive organizations who are concerned about annihilating caste, and agitate by burning down the Manu Dharma.
The resolutions passed in the Public meeting held at Tiruppur, on April 29 2012, to mark the closure of the Campaign Tour against Casteist life style are:
1. From the days of the Tamil kings till date, there exists the practice of ‘Two residential system’ of Village & Slum. In order to eliminate this ‘Two residential system’ – ‘residential untouchability’ and in order to bring to practice the goal of Periyar, who declared as early as 1947, that ‘the practice of maintaining a separate residential place for the people placed in the lowest stratum of the caste structure should be banned’ and ‘in future, the residential places built for those people should be built as multi-storied buildings in places found inside the village’, the new Dalit residences to be built by the TN Government should be built as multi-storied buildings in the available small places in the streets where the Backward castes are living.
2. In the western districts of Tamil Nadu, when the local governing bodies are approached for the layout approval of newly planned townships, the Presidents of the local governing bodies give oral instructions that none of the plots should be sold to Dalits. The people of the Backward castes also threaten that in such newly planned townships none of the plots should be sold to the Dalit people. Hence, though the Dalits might have grown economically, they are unable to get relieved from the ‘slum untouchability’ and buy a plot out of the slum, not even on the outskirts of the village.
Hence, in the newly planned townships, Dalits should be provided reserved allocation. And, that should not be accumulated in an isolated area, but should be mixed among the general allocations. The Government should enact rules that, if a Dalit who has bought a plot wants to re-sell it, it has to be sold only to a Dalit.
3. In order to ensure representation for those who have opted for inter-caste marriages and for their heirs in Government and Private jobs and Educational institutions, a law should be enacted with a provision for providing No Caste Quota in the reservation policy.
4. As the public sector is rapidly being converted to private sector, a law should be enacted to implement caste based representations in the multi-national companies in Tamil Nadu.
5. Apart from Reservation policy, any other representation of caste in the names of individuals, streets, commercial institutions, marriage halls, private transport corporations, shops etc should be eliminated. The Government should instruct that if this is not eliminated within a stipulated time, action will be taken against them under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
6. The practice of employing people from their own caste by the owners of industries and mills should be banned. Caste based representation should be ensured in all the departments including the administration division.
7. Caste based matrimonial institutions should be banned. The matrimonial advertisements which carry the phrases ‘Brahmins only’, ‘SC/ST Bar’, and those which mention particular caste names (Goundar, Vanniyar, Thevar etc) should be banned.
8. The marriage halls which mention ‘Vegetarians only’ with a hidden agenda to spread the Brahmin-Vegetarian culture, and to degrade the SC-BC food habits and to deny permission for SCs to use the hall, should be banned. Action under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should be taken against the owners of those marriage halls which mention ‘Vegetarian only’. Also, those who mention ‘For Vegetarians only’ while renting out their houses in towns, are practicing Untouchability in a hidden way. Hence action under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should be taken against these house owners too.
9. The book ‘Annihilation of Caste’ by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar should be added as Non-Detailed text in Schools – Colleges. Also, the compilation of Periyar’s KudiArasu from 1925 – 1949 and 37 Volumes of Ambedkar’s writings are to be made available in all the Public Libraries and the libraries of all Schools and Colleges.
10. A new Ministry and new department should be formed for the Annihilation of Caste. Based on the verdicts provided by the Supreme court on 19.03.2011 in Lata Singh Vs Govt. of UP and Arumuga Servai Vs Govt. of TN, and with the intention to implement those orders which include action against the District Collectors who do not show concern on the annihilation of untouchability, safe guarding anti-caste marriages, the Department of Annihilation of Caste has to be formed. The department should be funded enough and just like the widespread campaigns done for spreading education, vaccinations, public health etc, widespread continuous campaigns covering street by streets, village by villages should be undertaken against caste, untouchability, atrocities and discrimination.
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