Around 500 Dalit residents living in Melpathi village in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district have demanded a separate polling booth saying that they were scared to enter the caste Hindu locality and vote during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Tamil Nadu will see polling on April 19 during the first phase of elections.
On April 8, 2023, three Dalit residents - Kandhan, Kathiravan, and Karpagam - were allegedly attacked by Vanniyars, a dominant caste group, after the trio tried to enter the Dharmaraja Draupadi Amman temple in Melpathi. After several rounds of peace talks between the two groups, Vanniyar community members refused to allow Dalits to enter the temple, following which it was sealed on June 7. In March this year, the Madras High Court passed an order allowing daily rituals at the temple but only the priest has been allowed to enter the temple premises.
When TNM visited the village early in the morning, around 50 police personnel were deployed in front of the heavily barricaded temple. A resident who sought anonymity, said that the division between the two groups had increased after the attacks. “We cannot afford to fight with them and we don’t want to. This time, the candidate is contesting with the ‘pot’ symbol and there will definitely be some issue and we will be attacked. That is why we are asking for a separate polling booth. If they don’t give us a separate booth, we can’t assure that we will vote. All the [Dalit] residents here have decided not to vote,” he said.
D Ravikumar is the MP candidate from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance. While he contested using the DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol in 2019, this year he is contesting with their own symbol, the pot. VCK has been seen as a Dalit party despite having members from other communities and religions, and this leads to attacks by dominant caste members on Dalits.
Kirubanithi, a Dalit resident of the village, recalled there was no fear or anxiety in 2019 as the symbol was that of DMK. “Now we are contesting using our ‘pot’ symbol. So there will be a basic ideological issue. In order to avoid any issue between the communities, we are asking for a separate booth.”
DMK branch secretary M Vetrivel said people fear entering the caste Hindu locality to vote. “There might be some untoward incidents, and we are asking for separate booths to prevent that from happening,” he said.
Munusamy, whose two family members were attacked during the temple issue, said that they would rather register their protest than enter the caste Hindu locality for voting. “We shall even hoist black flags. But there is no need for us to go there and cast our votes.”
The residents also point out that none of the perpetrators have been arrested even after a year despite their violence and blatant caste discrimination. Though they said they would boycott elections if not given a separate booth, campaign activities were in full swing in the Dalit residential area.
The residents have filed a petition with the District Collector C Palani, who has assured them of their safety. Though the Dalit residents have said they can use an unused village service centre building as a polling booth, sources in the Collectorate said that a separate booth will be allocated, only if the voters are more than 1,500.