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Allegations baseless, says Dalit panel
The Hindu, 21st Sept. 2000 PONDICHERRY, SEPT. 20. Mr. V.P.M. Samy, convenor of the all Dalit Social Organisations Action Committee has said that ``baseless and utterly irrelevant allegations'' were made through the media by the PMK that dalits had planned to cause threat to the life of the PMK leader, Dr. S. Ramadoss, when he was on a visit to some villages to hoist party flag on Sunday last. In a statement here on Tuesday, Mr. Samy said the Dalit Panthers had already made it clear that they had never prevented anyone from proceeding to hoist party flag. Members belonging to the Adi Dravidar community had also made it clear that none of its members had indulged in violence to cause disturbance of the programme at the PMK leader in Abishegapakkam. Mr. Samy said the Dalit Social Organisations Action Committee had assessed that Abishegapakkam had always been a peaceful village in the whole of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The population of Adi Dravidars in this village is high and there had never been any room for religious or caste differences among the residents of this village. When no harm had been caused to the PMK leader, incidents of arson and vandalism had been unleashed, resulting in the loss of nearly 50 houses in Andiarpalayam village which is a Scheduled Caste hamlet close to Abishegapakkam. Mr. Samy said that in such a situation of insecurity and violence, atleast 25 youths had been rounded up from their houses when the police used abusive language against the residents. Mr. Samy said this kind of handling of the situation by the police was only adding insult to injury. The incidents of violence had been so alarming that a woman, V. Revathi of Muthialpet near Pondicherry, had fallen a victim to the spree of stone-throwing against passing vehicles by champions of violence near Vikravandi when she was returning to Pondicherry |