A 17-year-old Class 12 boy succumbed to head injuries, which he sustained in a clash with his schoolmates belonging to another caste in Tirunelveli on 30th April.
Incidents like forceful attempt to convert Hindu students into Christianity , demeaning Bhagatvat Gita, unruly behavior of students in class rooms, misbehaving with girl students and sexual assaults, consuming liquor by both girl and boys, drugs during school hours, fighting with each other are on the rise after the Dravidian Model government led by MK Stalin came to power. Juveniles involving one such incident took a life of a student in Tirunelveli.
The boy M Selva Surya, a class 12th student from Pappakudi village in Ambasamudramtaluk, hailed from the dominant backward caste. He was studying in Government Higher Secondary School at PallakalPothukudi. On that fateful day (25th April),Selva Surya was asked the Dalit boy why he was wearing a wrist band ( denoting caste ), ironically he was also wearing one such. In southern districts of Tamil Nadu, people wear coloured wrist bonds to identify their caste and is in vogue for quite some time. The school education department has issued guidelines against it as it would funnel caste clashes.
According to Police,Selva Surya picked up a quarrel after objecting to a Class 11 student boy wearing a wrist band to indicate his caste. As he remained stubborn , both got into a fight. Two other students joined the Class 11 boy and hit Selva Surya attacked him. One of the student hit him with a piece of hallow brick with a stone on his head. With blood oozing out from his ear, he went home after sought first aid. The school management tried to hush up the issue after giving warning to them.
Selva Surya complained of unbearable pain in the head and was rushed to Tirunelveli medical college hospital. On scan examination, doctors found a blood clot in the head. He underwent a surgery to remove the clot on April 26 and was in ICU care of a neurosurgeon and an anesthetist. His condition deteriorated and died on Saturday. Doctors said he did not require ventilator support from the second day but he collapsed due to associated brain injury and re-bleeding. As the students involved in this are from different communities, tension prevailed.
Relatives of Surya staged a road roko agitation demanding immediate arrest of students who hit him. Following this, thePolice arrested based on a complaint, Sudalai Mani and Figal Sameer and Sybudin. The trio have now been sent to home for children in conflict with law. The district collector V Vishnu has asked the educational institutions to strictly follow the norms set by the education department regarding removal of casteist wrist bonds and other measures to end such incidents.
Vishva Hindu Parishad media cell head ArumugaKani told your correspondent that they have been repeatedly telling about the methods followed by Abrahamic forces to convert Hindus like creating rift between Hindu communities and casteconflicts to confuse them. He said Hindus are the scape goats for the same and these forces are bent on their proselytization agenda unstopped. “What we need is a law to prohibit religious conversions along with a ban on fundamentalist PFI, CFI, National Women’s Front and SDPI etc.
– T S Venkatesan
venkateshts02@gmail.com