Special Correspondent

SALEM, July 23, 2012

Dalits and cadres of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) demolished a 60-foot-long brick wall under construction, alleging that it was intended to separate a Dalit colony from a caste Hindu area at Sanyasikundu here on Monday.

The Dalits claimed that the wall was being built to prevent them from using the pathway leading to their colony where 50 families were living for generations.

R.A. Murugan, a DYFI activist, told The Hindu that the Dalits had submitted a petition to the Salem Tahsildar asking him to stop the construction of the wall.

“But there has been no response.”

When the plot owner R. Ponnusamy started constructing the wall on Monday, obstructing the pathway, despite the Dalits’ protests, they sought the help of the DYFI.

Mr. Ponnusamy, however, claimed that the wall was being built on his land while the Dalits claimed it was ‘poramboke’ land.

Police and Revenue officials convened a meeting with the representatives of both groups to sort out the issue.