About 25 kilometers from Tiruvannamalai city lies Tandram Pettai, and from there, it’s another 10 kilometers to Thenmudiannur-a village where an 80-year-old struggle has been unfolding.
I was traveling with R. Annamalai, a member of the CPI(M) district committee, who was waiting for me on his bike at Tandram Pettai. From there, we traveled through the land towards Thenmudiannur. Our destination was an old tea shop at the center of the village, where we were greeted by C. Kuppendran and Muthuvellu. They had been waiting for us, calmly sipping tea, but their eyes told a story of decades of suffering.
Without saying much, they led us towards the Muthumariyamma Temple. For the Dalit community of Thenmudiannur, this temple had been a symbol of exclusion and pain for 80 long years. Untouchability had kept them out, and the temple had become a centre of humiliation.
Kuppendran, looking at the temple, said, “This is the Thenmudiannur Muthumariyamma Temple. For 80 years, we have asked for the right to enter. While other children could walk in, ours had to stay outside. We had no answer when they asked us why we couldn’t go in.” His voice was steady, but the weight of those 80 years was heavy in every word.
This wasn’t just about the temple. It was a microcosm of the daily humiliation the Dalit community faced. The village, which was a Dalit-majority, was governed by untouchability practices that no party had dared to address. Anyone who tried to enter the temple was beaten by the upper-caste people. It wasn’t just one isolated incident-it was a continuous struggle for dignity.
“In 2022, we approached the CPI(M) because we had nowhere else to turn. We said to them, ‘We are human beings too, we should be allowed to enter the temple,” says Kuppendran. It wasn’t just about gaining entry to the temple-it was about the right to be treated as equals, about claiming their dignity.
Kuppendran recalled how the party had supported their fight. The CPI(M) helped them organize protests and legal actions, and after months of struggle, the authorities could no longer hold their ground. A meeting was called under the leadership of the Revenue Divisional Officer on January 25, 2023. On January 30, as part of the Pongal festival, permission was granted to enter the temple. After 80 years, hundreds of Dalits, including Kuppendran, gathered at the temple on that day, hoping to participate in the festival. At 11 AM, under heavy police security, they entered. The ‘upper castes,’ shaken by this, started attacking the but party workers stepped in to prevent the violence.
When the news spread that Dalits had entered the temple, the ‘upper castes’ reached the village that very evening. They threatened everyone they saw and spread the rumor that the temple had been defiled. They decided to stop the regular rituals and prayers that usually took place. Within hours of the Dalits’ entry, the temple was closed. The temple, which had been closed in the evening on January 30, was reopened only after eight months.
The cruelty didn’t end there. Dalits were not allowed to cut their hair, work in the fields, or buy goods from the shops. They were also not allowed to drink tea from the shops, and those who worked grinding rice for idli flour were not called to do so. Due to the temple entry, the teashop of Indra, a young man from Jai Bhim Nagar, was set on fire one night. With their only source of income, the shop destroyed, the family fell into a deep crisis. A Dalit who used to cut hair at Tandram Pettai was also brutally attacked.
However, the party issued a warning that if the temple was not reopened, they would break the locks and enter. This notice was written and hung on the temple gate. The lock-breaking protest was scheduled for September 30, the death anniversary of B. Srinivasa Rao. Fearing the protest, the authorities assured on September 23, 2023, that the temple would be opened, and Dalits would be allowed to enter. Under the protection of hundreds of party workers carrying the party flag, Dalits entered the temple. The protest was led by CPI(M) state committee member M. Shivakumar, district secretary P. Selvam, and others.
Kuppendra said, “We had no land to build a house. No soil to farm. We were not allowed to enter the temple. If someone in the community died, there was no place for their last rites. If we complained or asked about our rights, we were met with false charges and threats. We were forced to live as slaves, fearing that the roof would be set on fire. For us, survival was the only goal. When we faced humiliation and disgrace from the other parties we had trusted, that’s when we approached the CPI(M). The BJP and DMK didn’t take up our problems, but the CPI(M) did. This party led the way in taking us to the places where the upper castes had imposed impurity, helped us reclaim the lost land, and allowed us to farm there.”
He added, “The party was the one that led us through all of this. We don’t need to fear anyone anymore. We can buy salt and chilies from the shop, we can go work in the fields. At the very least, we can live like human beings.”
Muthuvelu, also at the tea shop in Thenmudiannur, shared a similar sentiment:”This is how Dalit farmers in Tamil Nadu are holding on to the party. When both the government and the police abandoned us on the path of survival, every Tamil village is asking, how else could we mark the party, which has become our refuge? Since hearing the news that the party has decided to convene its congress in Madurai, we have been waiting. This time, tens of thousands who were once BJP and DMK workers will march with the red flag and keep the flag high.”
Courtesy : Desh Abhimani
Note: This news is originally published on https://www.deshabhimani.com and is for use by the non-military/non-commercial community, especially those in the human rights sector.
