August 15th is celebrated as the Independence Day. However, there is no freedom for Dalits out there. Now, don’t get us started on Dalit women.
Amrutham Amma in Tiruvallur district was elected as the Panchayat President last year. Despite being in a top position, the 62 years old had to face discrimination from a few casteists in the town including Haridass who is the ex-president.
This Independence Day, when she was about to hoist the flag in a school, she was stopped by Haridass, Panchayat secretary Sasikumar and the husband of Panchayat vice-president Vijayakumar. The school, in turn, cancelled her invitation. Knowing about the incident, Pudhiya Thalaimurai’s Ezhil went on to cover the issue. However, he was beaten up by a few men including Sasikumar and Haridass.
Ezhil approached Gummidipoondi police station and lodged a complaint. Immediate action was taken and Sasikumar was suspended from the position. The collector then arranged a flag hoisting event for Amrutham Amma.
Talking to the News Minute, Amrutham Amma said that this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Even during Republic Day, she was stopped and when she lodged a complaint, there was no result for the same as the officer who was investigating the case got affected by coronavirus.
Later, the people gathered to solve the issue. She added that these castiest people doesn’t respect her and doesn’t even provide her a chair to sit in the office. She was also forced to sign documents.
