Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state of Tamil Nadu. The party also has a strong emphasis on Tamil nationalism. Its chairman is Thol. Thirumavalavan, a lawyer from Chennai and its general secretary is the writer Ravikumar.
Caste-related violence in India has occurred and continues to occur in various forms.
The Kilvenmani massacre was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India on 25 December 1968 in which a group of around 44 people, the families of striking Dalit village labourers, were murdered by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords. The chief accused was Gopalakrishnan Naidu.
S. Ramadoss is an Indian politician. He is the founder of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, an Indian political party.
Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan, better known as Thol. Thirumavalavan is a political leader, scholar and activist from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a Member of Parliament from Chidambaram. Founder and President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as a Dalit leader, and formally entered politics in 1999. His political platform centres on ending caste discrimination and consequently the caste system. He has also expressed support for Tamil nationalist movements in Sri Lanka.
P. Kakkan or fondly known as Kakkan, was an Indian politician and freedom fighter who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, Member of Parliament, President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and in various ministerial posts in Congress governments in the erstwhile Madras state between 1957 and 1967.
The Dharmapuri bus burning occurred on 2 February 2000 in Ilakiyampatti, on the outskirts of Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu, India. Three students from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (TNAU) were burned to death in a bus by AIADMK cadres after the conviction of Jayalaitha by a special court for the Kodaikanal Pleasant Stay Hotel case.
In the 2012 Dharmapuri violence, a Vanniyar caste mob set fire to about 268 Dalit houses in Natham, old and new Kondampatti and Annanagar Dalit colonies in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu on 8 November 2012. The violence occurred after a Vanniyar girl from Sellankottai village, and a Dalit boy, from the neighbouring Dalit colony of Natham, fled due to parental opposition to get married, a caste panchayat held on the morning of 7 November by leaders from both communities ruled that the girl be returned to her family. Distraught at her decision to stay with her husband, her father allegedly committed suicide. The discovery of his body later that day is said to have provoked a 1,500-strong mob to rampage through Natham and two smaller Dalit settlements, Kondampatti and Anna Nagar, where it set ablaze over 200 houses, damaged at least 50 others, and allegedly looted valuables and cash worth lakhs of rupees. The mob rampaged for four hours and was brought under control after arrest of 90 men and an additional deployment of 1000 policemen.
The 2013 Marakkanam violence was an incident of violence in Tamil Nadu between Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Dalit villagers in Marakkanam. The violence was instigated when drunk PMK cadres attacked Dalit villagers. The Dalit villagers blocked the road demanding their attackers be arrested which stopped the vehicle convoy taking PMK members to a youth festival organized by the Vanniyar Sangam at Mamallapuram. The PMK members attacked the Dalit colony and burned down nine huts of Dalits, they attacked homes of Muslims and offices of AIADMK MPs, they vandalized buses, felled trees among other things. In the ensuing violence, two PMK members were killed.
Uthapuram is a village in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for a wall which segregated Dalits from the village for two decades.
Samathuvapuram officially Periyar Ninaivu Samathuvapuram is a social equality scheme of the Government of Tamil Nadu to improve social harmony and to reduce caste discrimination. Under the scheme, villages of 100 houses each are being created to accommodate the various castes, with one community hall and burial ground to be shared by all. The scheme is named after the social reformer Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.
Asra Garg is an Indian Police Service officer from the 2004 batch of Tamil Nadu Cadre. He has been posted in the South Zone, in The Tamil Nadu Police, since 2022.
Venkatachalapuram is a small village situated in Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India and with direct road connectivity to Theni and Odaipatti. The district headquarters, Theni, is situated 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of this village.
The 2004 Kalapatti violence refers to the violence against Dalits by dominant-caste villagers in the village of Kalapatti, Tamil Nadu on 16 May 2004. About 100 Dalit houses have been burned down by a mob of 200 villagers and Dalits who attempted to escape were attacked, including the reports of sexual assaults against Dalit women. The attacks lasted for 2 hours and 14 people were seriously injured in the violence including a man's arm reportedly hacked off.
The 2016 Ariyalur gang rape refers to the gang rape and murder of a pregnant 17-year-old minor Dalit girl, Nandhini, by a Hindu Munnani Union secretary and three of his friends in December 2016 in Ariyalur District. The men gang raped her and pulled out the fetus from her womb after cutting her genitalia with a blade. Nandhini died at the spot due to excessive bleeding. The men then threw her body into a nearby well. Her body was found in the well with her hands tied in a decomposed state, stripped of her clothes and jewellery.
The 2018 Ambalapattu violence refers to the violence on New Year's Eve of 2018 in a Dalit settlement in the village of Ambalapattu, Tamil Nadu. The settlement was attacked by dominant caste villagers during the New year celebrations by the Dalit community. Around 80 dominant caste villagers damaged Dalit homes, motor-bikes and properties. 8 Dalits were injured and 4 were admitted to the hospital.
Leelavathi murder was a high profile murder on 23 April 1997, involving the murder of Leelavathi, a councilor in Madurai, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She was an active member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was murdered by the opposing member of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a leading party which ruled the state for many years. Her murder is also quoted as the first assault on a woman leader after the introduction of 33% reservation of women in local bodies in Tamil Nadu.
The 2019 Ponparappi violence happened on April 18, 2019, during the polling day for the 2019 Indian general election in the village of Ponparappi, Tamil Nadu. The violence reportedly started as scuffles and agitations between the supporters of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the members of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) together with the members of Hindu Munnani, which reportedly led to violence by the members of the PMK on a Dalit colony. 60 to115 Dalit houses were damaged and Dalits were assaulted.
The 2015 Seshasamudram violence also known as the Villupuram violence refers to the violence that took place on 15 August 2015 in Seshasmudram, a village in Sankarapuram Taluk, Viluppuram District, Tamil Nadu. A crowd of 500 dominant-caste villagers attacked a Dalit colony over a dispute over a procession of a temple car. 15 houses belonging to the Dalits were burnt down and 40 Dalits were injured during the violence.
The 1978 Villupuram atrocity was an incident of caste based violence which happened on July 1978 in Villupuram, Tamil Nadu. The violence resulted in 12 Dalits being killed and more than 100 Dalit houses burned down in Periyaparaichery, a Dalit settlement. The violence was caused when a group of Dalits allegedly attacked a dominant caste man after he allegedly molested a Dalit women. Later, dominant caste people attacked the settlement with rocket fireworks and indulged in arsoning and assault. The Dalits also retaliated by setting fire to several dominant caste houses.
