MADURAI: An uneasy truce. That’s how Dalits describe the peace deal brokered between them and the caste Hindus by the Madurai District Police in Villoor village on April 24.While the police have claimed that the two communities were now working hand-in-hand, in reality Dalits continue to be treated as outcastes for all practical reasons.A visit to the village on Friday showed that the despising practice of preventing Dalits from riding a bicycle or motorcycle on the streets where members of the dominant Hindu community reside continues to be in vogue.Relationship between members of the dominant caste Hindu community and Dalits in the village reached a flashpoint on May 1, last year, when a Dalit youth was assaulted for riding a motorcycle on the main street. This had led to a violent clash leading to police intervention and subsequent litigation in the Madras High Court.It was in this backdrop that the Madurai Superintendent of Police Asra Garg announced that peace initiatives had succeeded with members of both communities signing undertakings to treat each other with humanity and respect. The ‘truce’ signed by 20 members representing each side promised to eliminate discrimination in hotels and tea shops and also grant Dalits the right to use the common pathway. The agreement also provided for laying an approach road for Dalits to reach Kallikudi-T Kallupatti Road.While the outside world saw this as being akin to a successful peace initiative in Uthapuram, where a wall had divided the caste Hindus and Dalits, many residents of Villoor were not even aware that such a truce had been brokered.“We learnt about the so-called harmonious agreement only through newspapers. We don’t recall any peace meeting being held with people’s representation in it,” claimed a Dalit member of the village.“Even today, Dalits cannot ride through the major roads,” a villager said pointing to a man, who was pushing his cycle with water pots dangling on either side of the carrier. The unwritten rule in the village is that Dalits should get down from their vehicles and walk through the streets.Dalits don’t even see a Uthapuram connect here. “In Uthapuram the Dalit population is on a par with the caste Hindus. Here the 100-odd Dalit families are outnumbered by the dominant caste population of around 5,000. How do you expect truce to prevail,” asks a farmer. While some members of the caste Hindus claimed that equality was maintained in tea shops and eateries, Dalits claim that the discrimination existed and they would not dare to question it. “Even now, if we walk across to our fields through their (caste Hindus) farmlands, they will block the irrigation channel,” he added.However, M Saravanan, the husband of Villoor Panchayat president Mari, claimed that the peace agreement was indeed signed with the approval of village committee and panchayat members. “We could not inform every villager because of paucity of time,” he claimed.Collector in the Dark About Deal!A question has emerged over the legal sanctity of the peace deal brokered between the caste Hindus and Dalits in Villoor by the Madurai Rural Police as Collector U Sagayam has said that he was not aware of the initiative.“Any agreement which involves members of two communities should be signed only in consultation with the district administration and its representatives. But in the case of Villoor, Superintendent of Police Asra Garg did not consult or inform me while finalising the peace deal,” Sagayam told the Express on Thursday. “The RDO is already conducting an inquiry into the row between the two communities in the village of Villoor and based on a Police Standing Order 151 the official had conducted an inquiry into alleged police excesses in Villoor during May last year and submitted a report regarding the issue,” Collector U Sagayam said.
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