Ribbons with caste code hoisted in TN's Tirunelveli; Probe initiated

CHENNAI: The Tirunelveli police have commenced a probe into the incident in which a few government school students in the district hoisted ribbons with the colour of a particular caste.

The incident took place on Monday and the principal of the school, Alex Sahayaraj, filed a police complaint against unidentified students.

Some caste outfits also have registered complaints with the district collector regarding it.

Notably, around 800 students are enrolled in the school and the students who had hoisted the ribbon reportedly had the support of a few teachers.

Already, Tamil Nadu, especially the Southern part, is tense following caste-related issues. The presence of human feces in the overhead water tank that supplies drinking water to a Dalit colony in Vengaivayal panchayat in Pudukottai district had shaken the community.

The CB-CID that commenced the probe is still not able to crack the case and the perpetrators are still at large.

Several Dalit political parties and Dalit movements had demanded demolishing the overhead water tank as it was an ignominy to them and other downtrodden of the state.

It is also to be recalled that in a series of violent killings and counter-killings in October 2021 in Tirunelveli and Madurai districts, several people lost their lives. This has led to friction in these areas and the Director General of Police, C.Sylendrababu had camped in Madurai to maintain law and order.

Fearing return of the old rivalry and violence stemming from it, the locals have appealed to police to crush this with an iron hand.

Shamuganadhan, a social activist of Tirunelveli while speaking to IANS said, "Police have to act now and arrest those behind the incident. This is an insult as there are 800 students studying in the school and in a society where caste consciousness is prevalent, such a move would backfire."