Tamil Nadu SC/ST commission issues public advisory not to use caste name 'Sandala'

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes on Monday issued a public advisory not to use the caste name 'Sandala' that denotes caste name in the list of Scheduled Caste.

It asked the state government to take legal action as per the provision of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 if anyone uses the caste name.

The Commission has issued such a direction in the wake of the controversy over the disparaging remarks and caste slur made by NTK functionary 'Sattai' Durai Murugan against late DMK leader and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi during the election campaign for the Vikravandi by election. He was arrested on July 11 from Tenkasi. He, however, was let out on bail.

NTK chief coordinator Seeman criticised the arrest and also used the caste name during a press conference, attracting strong criticism from various quarters.

Puthiya Tamilagam leader Dr K Krishnaswamy issued a statement, strongly condemning the NTK leader and functionaries in this connection. However, Seeman defended his party functionary's act. He sang a song that has the (Sandala) caste name and also dared the TN government to file a case against him.

Amidst this, the Commission stepped in and issued the advisory dissuading usage of the caste name. "It is a punishable offence to use 'Sandala' in public forum in a wrong connotation and demeaning manner in public places and forum under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. People belonging to the community are living in Tamil Nadu and certain parts of the country. The caste is found in 48th slot in the list of SCs, which has a total of 76 castes, " said the advisory.

In the recent past, the caste name has been used in social media in a degrading manner. Hence, the caste name should not be used with an intention to humiliate nor to make fun. It should not be either used during election campaigns and political meetings, the advisory said and asked the Tamil Nadu government to take legal action against those who use the caste name henceforth.

A member of the Commission told DT Next that a large section of the public are unaware that there is such a caste in the state and the people belonging to the caste were living in certain pockets in Thanjavur. The caste name has also been used in earlier occasions in political statements and film songs (Parithi Veeran) in a Tamil movie.

"The advisory is being issued to create an awareness among the public, " he noted.