Click to play videoMadurai: It's crime of another kind in a village in Madurai in Tamil Nadu - one of caste divide. There's even a wall that separates the upper caste from the Dalits in the village.
It's a reality that people of Uthapuram village in Madurai have been waking up to since 1989. The 600 m long 10 m high brick wall that separates the Dalit colonies in the village from the colonies of the Pillaimars or the upper castes.
Dalits have been denied access to many common resources in the village.
Villager Muniappan says, "Until last April, the wall was even electrified-we came to know after a bird died of electrocution-but after government intervention the wires were removed."
But the wall of separation still exists. The Dalits have separate community halls, crematoriums and water taps and are not allowed to take part in temple functions.
Even getting to the bus stop means waking half a kilometre extra around the wall.
Ganesan, another villager says, "This wall has been around since 1989. We have no access to their place because we are born to a lower caste. All the dirt from their village comes in to our water bodies spreading diseases. We will fight if action is not taken immediately."
The upper castes however deny they practice untouchability.
"There is no untouchability in this village. This wall has been built only on our private land," says one villager.
Meanwhile, the Disctrict Collector (Madurai), S S Jawahar said that the administration is trying to put an end to this practice.
“They were living in harmony all this while, but now there is a dispute. The administration is keen on finding an amicable solution; if that doesn't work out then we would proceed in accordance with the law,” Jawahar said.
But after all these years of existence, the wall might not stand firm after all. Local Communists are threatening to break the wall if authorities don't resolve the issue.
CPI-M’s Prakash Karat is scheduled to visit the village on May 7 to review the situation.
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