By Akshaya Nath
A 9-foot-high ‘untouchability wall’ has been built by some people at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in Kalkandar Kottai of Tamil Nadu’s Trichy district to separate their farms from colonies of Scheduled Caste people or Dalits. This has triggered a protest by some CPM members.
Trichy’s CPM zonal head N Karthikeyan said, “Six streets here are occupied by Scheduled Castes, and these people were working in those farms until recently. But now, the farm owners are planning to sell their land for real estate projects and have built this 9-foot wall of untouchability. This kind of discrimination is condemnable.”
There are around 300 families in the six streets adjacent to the 150-metre-long wall. Residents of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar have also condemned the construction of the wall.
According to officials, no permission was sought by the farm owners to build the wall. Civic officials have assured the protesters that they will take appropriate actions if violations are found.
This story first appeared on indiatoday.in