MADURAI: Sankaralingam, a 59-year-old Dalit leader at Madurai’s caste-sensitive Uthapuram, literally cried when he stepped into the Muthala Amman temple in his village on Thursday. His words summed up his emotions. “Since my childhood my parents advised me to avoid walking near the Muthala Amman temple, though the shrine and the arasa maram (Peepal tree) have remained the common property of the village. I never thought that I would get to enter the temple in my lifetime. Today, I can’t believe that I am inside it,” he said. Several others belonging to Sankaralingam’s ilk such as 69-year-old Ponnaiya are equally overcome with emotion-filled excitement over the new-found bonhomie between the Dalits and the dominant Backward Caste Pillaimars in Uthapuram, who were for years divided by a ‘caste wall.’ All thanks to the peace efforts of Madurai Superintendent of Police Asra Garg. “It is a good start in the village. We will continue our engagement with the members of both the communities and make sure the conducive environment prevails for ever,” an optimistic Garg told the Express. Uthapuram had infamously hit the headlines three years ago after members of the CPM-affiliated Untouchability Eradication Front stumbled upon a ‘caste wall’ that was built inside the village to prevent Dalits from entering upper caste streets. Villagers belonging to the Pillaimar community had erected the wall after a caste clash had broken out in Uthapuram in 1989.
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