Atrocities commited to Dalits

The main and malicious evil communalism is of serious concern to everybody who wishes the welfare of the society. The oppressed caste known as Adidravidas in the south and panchamaas in the north termed themselves as Dalits are suffering a lot. As they happened to be agricultural laborers and menials of the landlord in the feudal system for many centuries. They were confined in an institutional slavery system and treated even worse than the animals reared up by the landlord.

Even though Mahatma Gandhi wished to emancipate them from their slavery, he was unable to do anything except christening them with a new nomenclature”Harijans.”

The atrocities committed to Dalits are a never-ending dark spot of the Indian society.

In the year 1968, twentyone years after Independence, at Keezhavenmani, in the then Thanjavur district, agricultural laborers were burnt alive. After this tragedy, this cruelty did not come to an end. It happened here and there. But poets took Keezhavenmani as a symbol to notify brutality committed to Dalits.

In Keezhavenmani, the dalits who were agricultural laborers asked for a small rise in their wages. The landlords considered this as a great sin. The thugs employed by the landlords threatened the dalits. To save themselves from brutal assault they took shelter in a thatched hut. Alas! They were unable to save their lives from the merciless hooligans, who burnt them alive, creating a dark page in the history of Tamilnadu.