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The Untouchables
Part -IV
Caught in
the numbers game
A
discord is brewing between community leaders and the government over the
actual population of the Puthirai Vannars. While the government claims
that it is less than what they claim, the community leaders allege ‘false’
statistics
By
PC Vinoj Kumar
Chennai
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Faraway
Land: A Puthirai Vannar habitation in Alampoondi village |
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‘Any
statistic of the government on Puthirai Vannars cannot be relied
upon. The officials don’t do proper enumeration and list the
Vannars as other dalit sub-sects. No wonder their number is so low’
— Arul Valan
Priest-Activist
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There
is no clear information on the population of Puthirai Vannars. According
to Irusan Ragupathi, the state president of the Tamil Nadu Harijan Washermen’s
Federation, they are about two million. In over four decades, Ragupathi
has submitted hundreds of petitions to top politicians including chief
ministers and prime ministers, urging them to save his community from
slavery and bondage.
In all his petitions, he has been stating that there are two million Puthirai
Vannars in the State. “This figure was originally given by M. Ethirajulu,
a Hindu Vannar, who also took up our cause, when he was Member of Legislative
Council in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in the sixties. Ever since I have been
maintaining that,” says Ragupathi.
But other community leaders say their population might not be that high.
Their estimates vary between four lakh and five lakh. In one of the statewide
surveys conducted by a team under activist TM Prakash in 1996, the population
was estimated at 4 lakh. “According to our estimates then, there
were over two lakh Hindu Puthirai Vannars, one lakh Christians and 75,000
Muslims,” says Prakash.
Ramnad and Virudhunagar districts reportedly had the highest population
of about 18,000 and 16,000 respectively. Christians outnumbered Hindus
in Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts. Contrary to official claims
that Vannars are not found in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts, the
team enumerated about 9,000 members of the community in Kanyakumari alone.
The largest Puthirai Vannar habitation was found in Virudhunagar district,
near Sivakasi, where there were about 600 persons from different families
living together. Such large congregation of Puthirai Vannars in one place
is not common, though in places like Velankanni Nagar in Tiruvannamalai
district and Fathimapalyam in Villupuram district some families live together.
“Normally, there are just one or two Vannar families in a village,”
says Imayam, author of Koveru Kazhudaigal, a Tamil novel on a Catholic
Puthurai Vannar family, which was published in 1994.
A survey conducted by Ramnad-based SB Udhaya Kumar’s Puthirai Vannar
Marumalarchi Peravai in 2001 estimated the population at about 4.5 lakh.
However, according to government records the number is far below all these
claims. As per the Census of 1961 and 1981, the population of Puthirai
Vannars is a meagre 9,698 and 17,962. Community leaders and activists
are enraged at what they call ‘false’ statistics of the government.
“Any statistic of the government on Puthirai Vannars cannot be relied
upon. The officials don’t do proper enumeration and list the Vannars
as other dalit sub-sects. No wonder their number is so low,” says
priest-activist Arul Valan.
Indeed, the problem is deep-rooted, crying for a solution. Says A. Arumugam,
an office bearer of the Adi Dravida Hindu Puthirai Vannar Welfare Association
in Madurai, “I am a Puthirai Vannar and it is stated so in my school
certificate. But the government has issued Hindu Vannar (backward class)
community certificates to my children. I have approached many officials
for relief, but they have done nothing about it.”
Thanks to the bungling of government officials, there are thousands of
Puthirai Vannar families, where parents are Vannars and children are Adi-Dravidas,
Pallars, or Arunthathiyars — at least as per government records.
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Remember
Bhopal
AN
APPEAL TO READERS
Pankaj
Giri, a tea vendor, refused to bribe the railway police. He
was thrown out of the train near Agra. He lost his legs. Sheikh
Allauddin, a conscientious sub-inspector, took on Shahabuddin,
mafia don of Siwan. He was maimed. Tehelka took up their cause.
Readers responded with amazing passion. The funds helped Pankaj
and Allauddin start a new life. Tehelka appeals to its readers
to donate for the bgpmus, so that the Bhopal gas victims and
Abdul Jabbar can resurrect their struggle against all odds.
Please send in your cheques favouring Abdul Jabbar, Convenor
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan to Tehelka
M-76, IInd floor, M-Block Market,
Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi-110048. |
End
the Evil: Jamuna Bai, whose eye was affected during
the Bhopal gas tragedy demonstrates against the Dow Chemical
Company of US, in New Delhi
AP Photo |
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