CPI(M) protest seeking wall demolition

Cadres of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and members of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front staged a demonstration here on Wednesday demanding the demolition of a wall at Edamalaipattipudur in the city that denied Dalits access to the main road.

The demonstration was headed by the party's city secretary, K. Annadurai, in which the CPI (M) district secretary, S. Sridhar, Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front convenor P. Sampath and CPI (M) functionaries took part.

The party claimed that the wall was constructed on a pathway on the Muthumariamman Koil Street in Edamalaipattipudur, falling under the 40th ward, to prevent Dalits from using that way. It said several Dalit families were residing on the Muthumariamman Koil Street and the Tiruchi – Madurai national highway was just 50 metres from that street. The Dalits had to take a detour to reach the main road owing to the presence of the wall, the party claimed.

Meanwhile, Collector Mahesan Kasirajan has said that the district administration was in the process of verifying the document produced by the resident of Sakthivel Colony in Edamalaipattipudur indicating ownership of the portion of the tiled house that blocks the path to the Tiruchi-Madurai road for residents of the adjoining Adi Dravida colony, before initiating steps to clear the way.

The resident, Nalla Mohamed, has submitted the photocopy of the document for the ‘Natham' patta he was given in 1994.

The Revenue Divisional Officer has asked him to produce the original document to ensure its conformity with the records maintained by the district administration.

The process will be carried out at the earliest, the Collector told media persons on Wednesday.

There are means to revoke the grant of patta. Since the wall has been in existence for more than 30 years, the district administration has to make sure it has not acted in haste. Hence the enquiry, he said, adding that had the wall been constructed on ‘poromboke' land, it could have been removed right away. With the issue hogging media limelight, facts have to be viewed in the right perspective, he said.

Mr.Kasirajan informed that 100 families in the Adi Dravida colony were given pattas in 1965, and that the 29 families in Sakthivel Colony to the West of the Adi Dravida Colony encompass seven Muslim families, five Christian families, one Adi Dravida family, and other communities.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)