Madras dalit rally may be 'hijacked by militant elements'

The massive dalit rally scheduled for Wednesday in Madras may be 'hijacked by militant elements' and turn violent, state authorities fear.

The rally is to protest the killing of six dalit leaders, including a panchayat chief, at Melavalavu village, and present the governor a memorandum about it.

The July 23 rally, police officials point out, despite precautions, had turned volatile with activists damaging buses, establishments and private buildings.

"What they plan now is a much bigger procession with participants from all over the state. It will have activists of over 30 dalit organisations, many of them militant in character,'' Madras cops say, "We just cannot allow it to turn violent; it will spread caste clashes in the rural areas as well."

The state authorities are taking all 'possible precautions' to ensure peace at the rally. Police reinforcements have been sought from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and vehicle owners have been warned against carrying weapons on Wednesday -- those caught defying this would stand to have their vehicle licence cancelled permanently.

The government has also not taken kindly to speeches by certain dalit leaders in recent weeks. Some of them had called for a ban on all Independence day celebrations across the state. A militant leader, Sakthidasan, has since been detained by the police for demanding a separate dalit homeland.

Politicians, meanwhile, are out making hay. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Jayalalitha Jayaram has criticised Chief Minister M ``Karunanidhi for his 'high-handed action' to suppress the 'just voice of dalits'.

Karunanidhi, for his part, has dubbed Jayalalitha's 'newfound' concern as 'crocodile tears'. He also elaborated his achievements on the dalit front, claiming that 680 persons have been detained for atrocities on dalits -- hence, all criticisms against his government on this front are false.