Shame on Dravidian Land!!

The Court’s decision to allow N. Divya, whose marriage with a Dalit man led to caste violence in Tamil Nadu, to go with her mother as per her wish signals the success of casteist forces and the failure of social justice. It is apparent that she was under huge pressure and she has decided to sacrifice her love, her marriage, for the sake of a society that is caste-obsessed. It is a shame that great social reformers like Periyar EVR once lived in this land where the castesit forces still abound with impunity, punishing the inter-caste couples. Social rigidity towards inter-caste marriages and police’s dubious role is appalling. The Indian Constitution did away with guardianship role in marriages in 1978 and yet till date the parents impose their choices on their children and unfortunately the police and the judiciary pander to their egos. The PMK has arrogated to itself the role of parallel judiciary with self assumed powers to order social boycott, threats and exile. Social engineering to remove age-old barriers among different castes in Tamilnadu like sanctioning incentives to the newly-wedded couples who go for inter-caste marriages and promoting Samathuvapurams(Village of equals) is not bearing fruit. Despite the Supreme Court having declared khap panchayats illegal in April last year, casteist groups still hold meetings and pass strictures against inter-caste lovers.

Castes are simply petty consideration of myopic stance our society had been holding on to for centuries. Whenever an inter-caste couple runs away and gets married, they live under constant fear of elimination. We have a long way to go before evolving as a civilised society. Even as caste violence claims lives, there are young lovers who bridge the caste divide and defy the diktat of society. It is a welcome step that the young generation Dalit youth which has revolted against this system and is choosing the lifemates only on merit, taste and choice. Sidney Poitier rightly grieves: “I lived in a country where I could not live where I wanted to live. I lived in a country where I couldn’t go where I wanted to eat. I lived in a country where I could not get a job, except for those put aside for people of my colour or caste.’’ As Dr.Ambedkar rightly says, “The real remedy for breaking Caste is inter-marriage. Nothing else will serve as the solvent of Caste. Make every man and woman free from the thraldom of the Shastras, cleanse their minds of the pernicious notions founded on the Shastras, and he or she will inter-dine and inter-marry, without your telling him or her to do so.”

My Letter to The Hindu dated 08-06-2013

Divya’s decision marks the success of the casteist forces and the failure of social justice. It is apparent that she has been under tremendous pressure to sacrifice her love and marriage for the sake of a caste-obsessed society. Guardianship in marriage was repealed in 1978 but parents continue to impose their choices on their children.

For your reading, the hindu Report dated 07-06-2013

Happy with husband, but Divya joins mother

N. Divya, whose marriage with a Dalit man, I. Ilavarasan, led to caste violence in Tamil Nadu last year, presented herself before the Madras High Court on Thursday after her mother filed a habeas corpus petition. The court allowed her to go with her mother as per her wish. She had removed her thali. The 21-year-old, a caste Hindu, told The Hindu later in the day that she felt happiness in the presence of her husband and did not face any trouble from her mother-in-law.

Yet it appeared on Thursday that the couple were set to go their separate ways, with the social strain casued by their marriage overwhelming all individual sentiment. On Tuesday, Mr. Ilavarasan had lodged a missing person complaint with the police in Dharmapuri after Ms. Divya left the couple’s home. Ms. Divya told The Hindu over the phone after appearing in court: “I faced life with a lot of confidence and believed that I could lead a happy and peaceful life. The caste issue was not at all on my mind [when she fell in love and later decided to marry Mr. Ilavarasan]. But the death of my father and the violent incidents that followed turned my life upside down.”

Ms Divya said while Mr Ilavarasan had been a good husband she could not reciprocate his feelings as she was constantly haunted by the death of her father and the violent incidents that followed. "It is my own making. The thought of suicide also crossed my mind. I don't think I can overcome these feelings and can lead a life with him. " Ms. Divya was pursuing a nursing course when she fell in love. Her marriage with Mr. Ilavarasan, a native of Natham Colony near Naikkankotai in Dharmapuri district, took place in August 2012. But things changed for the couple after her father Nagarajan committed suicide in the wake of the marriage. This led to attacks on Dalit colonies in the district and to an intense campaign by the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). PMK leader S. Ramadoss accused Dalit youths of luring girls from other communities into short-lived marriages.