Chronicling the role and views of communists in the struggle for the annihilation of caste
25 December 2019 marks the 51st anniversary of the Keezhvenmani massacre, where 44 Dalit agricultural workers were killed by feudal landlords in Keezhvenmani village of Tamil Nadu. Anticaste.in republishes an article by Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), who wrote the piece after visiting Keezhvenmani in 2017. [Read more]
An activist of the left-wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) was murdered by casteist fanatics on Wednesday night in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. 23 year-old Ashok, the Tirunelveli district treasurer of the DYFI, was returning from work when he was hacked to death at Karaiyiruppu village near Thachanallur. DYFI activists say that the murder of Ashok is in response to the role that he played in the resistance against the abuse of Dalit workers and women by reactionary elements of the dominant community, as he mobilised youth to fight caste oppression and discrimination in his village. [Read more]
A wire fence which blocked a concrete road used by Dalits in Pongalur block of Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district has been removed following the intervention of the TNUEF and the CPI(M). [Read more]
The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) organised a 360-km walk from Salem to Chennai against the scourge of caste arrogance killings (often called ‘honour’ killings) in Tamil Nadu. The walk concluded on June 22 in Chennai with a ‘March to the City’ demanding the passing of an act specifically against ‘honour’ killings. Over 300 people, including CPI(M) Tamil Nadu Secretary G. Ramakrishnan, courted arrest in the struggle on the final day. Anticaste.in spoke to Samuel Raaj, General Secretary of the TNUEF, on the motivation and aims behind the Walk and on the experience gained from it. [Read more]
The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) led a militant struggle at Vembi Village in Villupuram District demanding house-sites for Dalits. The struggle ended successfully and 105 landless families living in precarious conditions got house-sites. [Read more]
The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) led a massive protest for land reclamation in Pennagaram town of Dharmapuri district. 345 Dalit families participated in this protest demanding land for livelihood. The protest was a big success. [Read more]
For more than a decade, the CPI(M) and other mass organisations in Tamil Nadu have been concentrating on movements against caste oppression and for eradication of untouchability. Efforts towards eradication of untouchability have intensified after the formation of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) in May 2007. District units of the TNUEF are present and active in all the 32 districts of Tamil Nadu today. In this interview, P. Sampath, the President of TNUEF, explains the challenge of caste in India, and how the CPI(M) has been trying to address the caste question in Tamil Nadu. [Read more]
A Dalit family in Seerkali Taluk, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, was denied road access to take the body of its member to the cremation ground. The CPI(M), along with alliance partners Makkal Nalak Koottani (MNK) protested to remove this roadblock after which the police and revenue officials were forced to clear the road for the family […]
(People’s Democracy, November 15, 2009) Alleging that dalits were still facing discrimination in different parts of Tamilnadu and that this included denial of access to temples, the Theendamai Ozhippu Munnani (Untouchability Eradication Front) has announced that it would organise more temple entry protests in the state. The Theendamai Ozhippu Munnani is led by Tamil Nadu […]
by P Sampath (People’s Democracy, November 15, 2009) The struggles waged by the Tamilnadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) in the recent past have undoubtedly proved to be a turning point in the struggle for the rights of the dalit and tribal people. A majority of those who participated in this movement are dalits. Several of […]