KUMBAKONAM: Kudithangi 10-km from Kumbakonam would have hit the national headlines earlier had it not been overshadowed by the recent Mahamaham Tragedy. Last month a Harijans (untouchable) body had to be kept in his Hutt on the outskirts of the Vanniyar-dominated village awaiting upper caste clearance for taking it to the cemetery. The clearance never came and the body had to be buried in the backyard of the hut.
Funeral processions of Hanijans are not allowed to pass through the public road to the community’s cemetery on the banks of the Kolidam river a tributary of Cauveryh Ironically though the Hanijans have access to the road when alive.
Till 1987 it was common for Harijans to be buried in their backyards since the Vanniyars would not allow them to be buried elsewhere. But that year the health authorities declared this practice unhealthy and allotted land on banks of the Kollidam for a cemetery.
The way to the cemetery however is through the Vanniyar streets and the question of a dead Harijan polluting the Vanniyar areas has come up every now and then since the plot was allocated. The other option for the Harijans was lo lake a circuitous narrow dirt path across a canal. With water in the canal rising at times the Harijans had to revert to the use of their backyards. There is not one inch of space left in the original burial ground and consequently more of the slum area was being devoured by the burial ground leading to the intervention by the health authorities.
Though tension prevails in the village after last month’s event so far no communal incident has been reported from Kudithagni. But the Harijan youth educated as they are resist the un touch ability still being practiced against the community and last month’s incident could be a forerunner According to them they are not merely fighting the un touch ability of the Vanniyars but also the indifference of the government. Says Kaliyamoorthy a Harijans from Audithangi: “The authorities have now offered to lay a new road to our burial ground… But why go in for a puthu (new) road when you have a pothu (public) road?”
Ironically the Vanniyar community led by the Vanniyar Sangam and the Pattal Makkal Katchi (PAK) of S. Ramdosss has been in the forefront of the backward class movement in the state. In fact the PMK is seen as a Vannly Harijan tie-up and has rabid Hanijan leaders in its fold. And this was also sought to be given out as one of the reasons for the party’s poor performance in the 1991 elections the argument being that hard-core Vanniyar were against any tie-up with the Harijans. Also as not to antagnise the dominant Vanniyar community no political party has gone the whole hog against the Kudithang incident even though when last month’s incident occurred the state Assembly was in session. Only a passing mention was made. Even the DMK and the AIADMK political offshoots of the rationalist Dravidian movement in the state kept quiet over the issue The issue so far has gone unreported. For while the ruling party politicians are busy singing praises of their chief minister Jayalalitha; the opposition has not shown any interest in the issue either as it does not have any political angle. The representatives of the national press in the state have also chosen to ignore the controversy.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 24, 1992
