“History repeats itself, the first as tragedy, then as farce” – Karl Marx
It has been an unforgettable day since the last 20 years. This is a day to recall the odious memories of the Manjolai massacre and to pay homage to the martyrs. The incident of Manjolai Massacre better knows as Tamirabarani or Tirunelveli massacre often finds mention in the scholarly works of sociology and subaltern studies as well as in the discourse of Dalit atrocities which was one of the bloody and savageous police attack against the oppressed class in the so called independent India. The incident is a flagrant attestation that dalits are not yet free in this country.
The police atrocities against Dalits are not new for Tamil Nadu, especially for the southern districts of Tamil Nadu including Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. Manjolai Massacre is a notable episode of state terrorism in the form of police atrocities and violence which occured infront of the collectorate office of Tirunelveli city. This incident actually jogged the memories of the Thoothukudi massacre (strelite protest).
Background
BBTC renewed its lease agreement with the then Congress government after independence in Tamil Nadu and extended its lease till 2029.
About two centuries ago, the then King of Travancore, Cheran Marthanda Varma, gifted 74,000 acres of forest under his control in the Western Ghats to the Singampatti Zamindar for his contribution in the war. In 1930, Singampatti Zamindar leased about 8374 acres of his land to the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (BBTC), a private company owned by Nusliwadia of present Wadia Group, Maharashtra, for a period of 99-year lease. It was those forest areas that became the Manjolai tea estate regions including Kakkachi, Naalumukku, Oothu and Kuthiraivetti estates in the Western Ghats. All lands owned by the Singampatti Zamindar were nationalized under the Ryotwari System and Land Acquisition Act of 1948 where ownership rights were handed over to the peasants. However, the BBTC renewed its lease agreement with the then Congress government after independence in Tamil Nadu and extended its lease till 2029.
In 1998, the Manjolai plantation workers were receiving only 53 rupees a day, including a basic wage of 33 rupees. In this situation, the people of Manjolai presented their problems to the Puthiya Tamilagam party leader Dr. K. Krishnasamy, who came to Manjolai to collect votes for the Tenkasi parliamentary election. After hearing about the plight of the workers, who have been treated like slaves for years, Dr. Krishnaswamy promised to end this extortion once the election is over.
After the election, based on consultations with tea plantation workers in the Manjola area, it was decided that the demand for the daily wage should be raised to 150 rupees and extra 5 rupees per kilogram apart from the basic work of 16 kg of tea leaves. The Puthiya Tamilagam Party has put forwarded 33 demands, including the abolition of slavery in the estate sector. The deadline was set for BBTC management to make necessary changes concerning the workers to demand before August 20, 1998.
The Incident
A collective labour agitation and procession was demonstrated by the tea plantation workers of Manjolai tea estates against the estates authorities on July 23, 1999. The procession was observed to demand a wage hike as worth enough to their hard work in the estates and to release 652 plantation workers charged for alleged cases. According to Kannan (2000) in his research work on ‘caste violence and Dalit conciousness’, in the massacre, around 17 people lost their lives including two women and a child in a cruel police attack. The procession was taken out by the collective of labourers in which most of the participants were Dalits.
The situation became worse when protestors were blocked by the police and denied permission to meet the District collector to submit their petition
The procession started from Tirunelveli railway station towards the District collectorate to give petitions. The protestors were blocked by the police and denied permission to meet the District collector to submit their petition. This led into a violent clash between the police and the plantation workers. The policeman conducted a lathi charge and fired to clear off the protesters. Jayasekara argues that the police pelted the protestors with stones and bricks. He further affirms that, about 700 Swift Action Force (SAF) personnels and Tami Nadu Special Police (TSP) were assembled for the attack.
Viswanathan and Saqaf (1999) commented in their report on Frontline that the police “indiscriminately used a new weapon in their armoury—stones and bricks”. To get rid of police lathi blows, firing, and stone throws, some of the protesters ran towards the nearby Thamirabarani river and jumped on it. Noticing this, the police followed them and jumped into the river and hit on the heads of the protesters with lathis (Viswanathan, 2005; Ratnamala, 2012, p. 187; PT Media, 2018; Jayasekera, 2012).
Media coverage on Incident
The newspapers reported the official views that the protesters died because of drowning into the river.
The Frontline Magazine of 1999 opined that the Tamil print media coverage of the incident revealed the bias of the media towards the Dalit issues. The newspapers reported the official views that the protesters died because of drowning into the river. The editorials advocated that the occurrence of police violence in the labour agitation was due to the misbehaviour of the protestors. This planned and executed violence on Dalits by the police was not reported as a Dalit or caste issue by the news papers. But, several other magazines, social science scholars and human rights supporters viewed the incident as a Dalit issue.
The stand of DMK on Manjolai massacre and Dalit issues during its ruling
The committee under K Karthikeyan, withdrew the cases against 652 Manjolai estate workers and released them on July 28.
The police attack has turned the people against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the ruling state government of Tamil Nadu in 1999. Jayasekara condemned that the DMK tried to damp down the massive police brutality by concerning their political prospects in the general election to be held in September and October. The state government led by M. Karunanidhi appointed a one-man commission to study and submit a report on the incident. The committee under K Karthikeyan, withdrew the cases against 652 Manjolai estate workers and released them on July 28. The state government didn’t show any interest in the details of the autopsy of those who killed in the protest. The autopsy reported “asphyxia” is the cause of death. i.e due to drowning. The statements of M. Karunanidhi and the reports on the event submitted by officials tried to hide the true colours of khaki in Tamil Nadu.
References
- Jayasekera, D. (2012, November 29). Brutal police attack claims 17 lives in southern India. Retrieved from https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/08/ind-a11.html
- Kannan, T. (2000). Caste Violence and Dalit Consciousness: A Critical Interpretation of Dominance. Institute For Social and Economic Change, 7–12. Retrieved from http://www.isec.ac.in/Caste_violence_and_dalit_consciousnes.pdf
- P T Media. (2018, July 19). நதியின் மரணம் | தாமிரபரணியில் திமுகவின் மாஞ்சோலை தோட்ட தொழிலாளர் படுகொலை- ஆவணப்படம். [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ-s-AasQw4&t=183s
- Prabhakar, J. (2014, August 19). “இரத்த சரித்திரம்” – தாமிரபரணி படுகொலை வரலாறும், பின்னணியும்! Www.Webdunia.Com. https://tamil.webdunia.com/article/current-affairs-in-tamil/thamirabarani-massacre-manjolai-labourers-massacre-history-and-background-114072300049_2.html
- Viswanathan, S., & Saqaf, S. M. (1999, July 31). The Tirunelveli Massacre. Frontline, 16(16). https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/article30257742.ece
- Viswanathan, S., & Seetharaman, P. (1999, August 14). A bitter harvest. Frontline. https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30257864.ece
- Viswanathan, S. (2005). Dalitsin Dravidian land: Frontline Report of Anti-Dalit Violencein Tamil Nadu 1995-2004 (1st ed.). Pondicherry, India: Navayana Publishing.
- Ratnamala, V. (2012). Media on Violence against Dalits. MD Publications Pvt Ltd, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520120205
- Ratnamala, V., & Govindaraju, P. (2007). Media and Dalits: A study on the coverage of Dalit issues in Tamil Dailies with special reference to “Tirunelveli Massacre.” Studies in Communication Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, 103–124.
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