Opening of the new memorial for the Keezhvenmani martyrs
Essay Struggles

The Tempered Steel of Keezhvenmani

25 December 2019 marks the 51st anniversary of the Keezhvenmani massacre, where 44 Dalit agricultural workers were killed by feudal landlords in Keezhvenmani village of Tamil Nadu. Anticaste.in republishes an article by Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), who wrote the piece after visiting Keezhvenmani in 2017. [Read more]

Ashok, DYFI Tirunelveli Treasurer, Murdered by Casteist Forces
News

Left youth leader in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu killed by casteist fanatics

An activist of the left-wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) was murdered by casteist fanatics on Wednesday night in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. 23 year-old Ashok, the Tirunelveli district treasurer of the DYFI, was returning from work when he was hacked to death at Karaiyiruppu village near Thachanallur. DYFI activists say that the murder of Ashok is in response to the role that he played in the resistance against the abuse of Dalit workers and women by reactionary elements of the dominant community, as he mobilised youth to fight caste oppression and discrimination in his village. [Read more]

TNUEF Walk against Honour Killings: March to Chennai City.
Struggles

TNUEF’s Walk from Salem to Chennai demands law against ‘honour’ killings

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) organised a 360-km walk from Salem to Chennai against the scourge of caste arrogance killings (often called ‘honour’ killings) in Tamil Nadu. The walk concluded on June 22 in Chennai with a ‘March to the City’ demanding the passing of an act specifically against ‘honour’ killings. Over 300 people, including CPI(M) Tamil Nadu Secretary G. Ramakrishnan, courted arrest in the struggle on the final day. Anticaste.in spoke to Samuel Raaj, General Secretary of the TNUEF, on the motivation and aims behind the Walk and on the experience gained from it. [Read more]

News Struggles

TNUEF Struggle Ends in Victory: 105 Landless Dalit Families in Villupuram Get House-sites

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) led a militant struggle at Vembi Village in Villupuram District demanding house-sites for Dalits. The struggle ended successfully and 105 landless families living in precarious conditions got house-sites. [Read more]

Struggles Videos

Caste and the CPI(M) in Tamil Nadu: P. Sampath Speaks

For more than a decade, the CPI(M) and other mass organisations in Tamil Nadu have been concentrating on movements against caste oppression and for eradication of untouchability. Efforts towards eradication of untouchability have intensified after the formation of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) in May 2007. District units of the TNUEF are present and active in all the 32 districts of Tamil Nadu today. In this interview, P. Sampath, the President of TNUEF, explains the challenge of caste in India, and how the CPI(M) has been trying to address the caste question in Tamil Nadu. [Read more]

News Struggles

Protest in Nagapattinam against Denial of Road Access to Dalit Family

A Dalit family in Seerkali Taluk, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, was denied road access to take the body of its member to the cremation ground. The CPI(M), along with alliance partners Makkal Nalak Koottani (MNK) protested to remove this roadblock after which the police and revenue officials were forced to clear the road for the family […]

News Struggles

More Temple Entry Action in Offing

(People’s Democracy, November 15, 2009) Alleging that dalits were still facing discrimination in different parts of Tamilnadu and that this included denial of access to temples, the Theendamai Ozhippu Munnani (Untouchability Eradication Front) has announced that it would organise more temple entry protests in the state. The Theendamai Ozhippu Munnani is led by Tamil Nadu […]

News Struggles

Untouchability Eradication Struggles in Tamil Nadu: Massive Rally Gives the Campaign New Vigour

by P Sampath (People’s Democracy, November 15, 2009) The struggles waged by the Tamilnadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) in the recent past have undoubtedly proved to be a turning point in the struggle for the rights of the dalit and tribal people. A majority of those who participated in this movement are dalits.  Several of […]