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Dalit Panthers to contest polls

Shedding its decade-long tradition of boycotting elections, the Dalit Panthers, a militant dalit organisation, has decided to take part in the coming Lok Sabha elections with the sole objective of defeating the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party-led front in Tamil Nadu.

Announcing this, Dalit Panthers organiser R Thirumavalavan told newsmen in Madras that the organisation had resolved to take part in the coming elections to prove that the dalits constituted a strong political force in the state.

Describing the coming together of the ruling DMK and the "communal" BJP as a deadly combination, he said this front had to be defeated as it posed a grave threat to society, especially to dalits and minorities.

This did not mean that the organisation would vote in favour of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham-led front. On the other hand, it would try to form a separate front by uniting various dalit organisations and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, he said.

He claimed that dalit votes would be decisive in at least 10 constituencies -- among them are Madurai, Periyakulam, Sivakasi, Perambalur, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Dharmapuri and Sriperumbudur.

Thirumavalavan alleged that the DMK government had started suppressing the organisation by arresting its members under the Goondas Act only after it passed a resolution to defeat the DMK-BJP led front in the polls.

He accused the police and district administration of deliberately denying him permission to address public meetings and banning the organisation's protest rallies, forcing it to violate the ban.

Referring to his arrest on June 12 when he led a demonstration in Perambalur defying a ban order, he said he had contacted all top officials and requested one hour's permission to stage the demonstration in a peaceful manner but they had turned a deaf ear.

Alleging that six dalit youth were stripped and paraded in a market area and subsequently arrested under the Goondas Act at Koonabedu in Chengalpattu district in connection with the burning of a truck belonging to the local DMK panchayat union leader, he said the atrocities against dalits were worse during the DMK regime than the previous AIADMK rule.

He said his outfit would organise a road roko agitation in Chengalpattu district on June 21, demanding the release of the six youth.

If the government continued to suppress the dalits, it would organise a state-wide rail roko agitation urging the Centre to dismiss the DMK government, he warned.

UNI

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