'Methods to silence Dalits quite popular,' writes Girija Paneerselvam after Tamil Nadu cops arrest Samooga Neethi Katchi leader N Panneerselvam

The leader of Samooga Neethi Katchi (Social Justice Party), my husband advocate N Panneerselvam was arrested along with 19 landless Dalits by Tamil Nadu Police on 28 August 2019. My husband has been at the forefront of a movement for reclaiming lands which belong to Dalits for more than a decade.[caption id=“attachment_7275091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Coimbatore deputy collector along with other officials in tals with protesting mebers of Samooga Neethi Katchi. Image courtesy Girija Paneerselvam[/caption] Between 1892-1934, the British government assigned lands to Dalits across India. These lands are identified with different names in every state. In Tamil Nadu, they are referred to as “Panchami Land”. As per the letter of the land commissioner dated F1/2016 (26/7/2016), out of 12 lakh acres distributed, only 1,23,013.6 acres are in the possession of Dalits in Tamil Nadu. The remaining plots are occupied or have been illegally taken over by landlords and dominant caste groups. There have been many land struggles over the years which have been silenced from time to time by the political parties in power. My husband formally started the Social Justice party in 2014. The main intention of this party has been to recover illegally occupied Panchami lands and redistribute it to landless Dalits through legal procedures. In the last five years, about 100 acres of land has been recovered through engagement with government authorities and assigned to Dalits. In Mettupalayam of Coimbatore district, 65 acres of land have been recovered in three years. The land is being cultivated now. The Dalits who acquired possession of the land voluntarily donated 10 acres to construct the Government Arts and Science College. Arrest and current situation In the past two years, the party along with landless Dalits filed multiple petitions with the district collector and other authorities including National Commission for Scheduled Castes with the SF number of the lands that are under illegal occupation. One such illegally occupied land block was identified a year back in Sitha Naiken Palayam, near Sulur, Coimbatore. Many requests have been placed to the district administration through petitions and demonstrations to act against those illegal squatting on this piece of land. [caption id=“attachment_7274791” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Dalits protest seeking holding rights to their usurped land. Image courtesy Girija Paneerselvam[/caption] The district collector of Coimbatore promised that on or before 28 August 2019 his administration will recover and distribute the land in question to Dalits. However, no action was taken till 28th. On the day of the protest, our party leader N Panneerselvam and general secretary Nagaraj arrived at the venue by 7 pm with the claimants for a pre-planned negotiation called with the police. The negotiation went on till 9 pm and was also telecast live via Facebook. The district administration promised to conduct a survey the next day. However, sensing that the situation might escalate police arrested all the protestors with the assurance that they will be released after detaining for some time in a public hall. But this didn’t happen. Instead, I was informed at 6 am that my husband N Panneerselvam and 19 male protestors have been remanded. None of us was informed about their arrest prior to this. All the 20 were charged under IPC 143,147,506 (1) and Section 7(1)A of the CLA Act. We’ve been regularly engaging with the authorities in question. We have submitted written representations with addendums and documents about the land in question which are illegally occupied. Though these shreds of evidence of land records (SF Number) and Supreme Court judgments have been given to the authorities, there has been no action. This is mainly because the lands in question are illegally owned by upper caste Gounder and Naidu communities, who are very influential in both AIADMK and BJP. Instead of taking them to the task, committed leaders like my husband are being arrested to threaten Dalits for raising our voice, though it is for our rights and for land that belongs to us. [caption id=“attachment_7274851” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Dalits in Tamil Nadu have started raising their voice demanding their Panchami land back. Image courtesy Girija Paneerselvam.[/caption] The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is yet to take any steps to address these unjustified, illegal arrests. Other than a handful, I don’t see any member of the opposition party or other important political actors opposing the arrest of my husband and 19 others. It has become a trend for every political party to wax poetic while talking about the welfare of Dalits. But none of them is interested to deliver or interfere when the question of land belonging to us comes up. The idea of Dalits owning and demanding land seems to still be alien to many, right from common citizens to those in power. But arrest and methods to silence us are quite popular across the country, one example being that of my husband and his colleagues.