The incident took place on December 24 in Rajavoor village of Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu where 60 Dalits who put an end to the inhumane caste system in the pre-independence period walked in the upper caste street wearing slippers for the first time in their lives.
60 Dalits planted shoes on Kambala Naikan Street, an upper-caste residential area of Rajavoor village. By doing this, the Dalit community has broken the unwritten rule that they should not wear slippers in the upper caste streets of the village.
Scheduled community members were also denied access to bicycles on Kambala Naikan Street in Rajavoor village. More than 800 Gounder and Naikkar communities live in this village of 900 houses. 60 people from the Dalit community walked on a 300-meter-long street and put an end to the system of caste violence that has been in force for hundreds of years.
51-year-old A Muruganandam, a resident of the same street, said, “The upper caste community had restricted walking on this street with sandals. Dalit community members have been threatened with death and assaulted. The upper caste women also threatened the Scheduled Caste community with death if they walked in their street wearing slippers. Many times the stragglers have been attacked. We have been living in oppression for decades without walking this street. A few weeks ago we brought this issue to the notice of Dalit organizations.” They expressed their pain.
“When untouchability was banned after independence, the dominant castes spun a story to continue the practice of untouchability. A voodoo doll is buried in the street. Dalits were told that they would die within three months if they walked on their streets wearing sandals. Due to this, some Dalit communities started walking barefoot by believing the upper caste stories. This evil practice continues even today,” said another Dalit community leader.
Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (Tiruppur) Secretary C.K. Kanakaraj visited the village last week and learned that Dalits don’t enter this particular road wearing slippers.
The organization wanted to start a protest for this. But the police refused permission and asked for a postponement. Subsequently, along with office bearers of political parties like the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Vidudalai Chirutaigal Katchi and Dalit rights organization Aati Tamizhar Peravai decided to walk this street wearing sandals.
On December 24, a group of 60 members started walking on an upper-caste street and entered Rajakaliyamma’s temple outside the village.
