As part of their ongoing struggle to reclassify them as Denotified Tribes (DNT) from Denotified Communities (DNC), members of Denotified Tribes Welfare Association (DTWA) staged a novel protest on the Collectorate premises here on Monday by applying limestone paste on one eye and butter on the other to project alleged partiality shown by the State government towards certain communities while ignoring the plight of the DNCs.
Stating that there were 68 DNCs in Tamil Nadu that were facing oppression for more than a century, the protesters said that while the government took care of ensuring welfare measures for certain communities in the name of ‘social justice,’ the oppressed DNCs were left in the lurch.
A.V. Marimuthu, general secretary of DTWA, said that the benefits these communities were receiving until 1979 as DNT communities were stopped when the Tamil Nadu government re-classified them as DNCs through a government order.
“In all other States, communities like us who faced oppression under the Criminal Tribes Act of the British Raj are still classified as DNTs and enjoy several benefits. Why should it be different in Tamil Nadu alone,” he questioned.
Urging the State government to classify them back as DNTs, the protesters also demanded the Backward Class Welfare Department of the State to meet their other long-pending demands at the earliest.
“This include, appointing members for DNC Welfare Board, ensuring free higher education for our communities, implementing the recommendations of the commissions appointed earlier for our welfare and implementing the interim recommendations of the present National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) headed by Bhiku Ramji Idate,” Mr. Marimuthu said.