Members of two caste groups pelted stones & four shops were set ablaze after tensions over a Dalit community’s demand to enter the Mariamman temple in Salem district’s Deevattipatti.
Chennai: A violent clash erupted in Tamil Nadu’s Salem district Thursday, with members of two caste groups hurling stones at each other and four shops being set on fire. The dispute centres on the Dalit Adi Dravidar community’s ongoing demand to enter the Mariamman temple in Deevattipatti, which the Vanniyar community allegedly opposes.
The violence came shortly after the police and revenue departments convened a ‘peace committee’ meeting between the Vanniayars, a Most Backward Community and Adi Dravidars, a Scheduled Caste, in Deevattipatti. According to Salem rural police, the meeting concluded “peacefully”, although it did not result in a resolution.
A press release from the Salem district police stated that the peace meeting was necessitated after a clash between the two caste groups occurred on the night of 1 May regarding the Mariamman temple festival in Deevattipatti.
This story was originally published in theprint.in. Read the full story here.