On November 20, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) held a senior leadership meeting where it passed 10 resolutions. VCK founder and Chidambaram MP Thol Thirumavalavan led the meeting. The VCK is an ally of the ruling DMK and one of the resolutions it passed was for action to be taken against caste atrocities.
According to the VCK, the caste atrocities being committed against the Dalits is increasing every day, especially in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. The party stated that this was due to “caste pride politics”. The VCK resolution read “caste pride politics propagated by Sanatana forces under the guise of religion” was the reason for the increase in caste atrocities against the Dalits in the state.
“The government should take stringent measures to prevent these atrocities. It should ensure the offenders in Dalit-related crimes are booked under acts that do not permit them to come out of the prison easily on bail,” stated the resolution.
One of the farmers arrested in the protest at Tiruvannamalai is still being held under the Goondas Act and the VCK urged the DMK government to suspend the Goondas Act against him. The farmers protested against the acquisition of their land by the government for the building of a SIPCOT industrial park. The party also asked the government to suspend the Tamil Nadu Land Acquisition Laws (Revival of Operation, Amendment and Validation) Act, 2019.
VCK stated that the DMK government must work on filling vacancies reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) in government departments, institutions like Annamalai University, etc, which are still lying vacant.
At the meeting on Monday, tributes were paid by Thol Thirumavalavan and other senior VCK members to the late freedom fighter and communist leader N Sankaraiah and VCK functionary Unjai Arasan.