Tamil Nadu: 'Untouchability wall' around Dalit colonies triggers protest

A 9-foot wall separating Dalit colonies from farms has been erected in Kalkandar Kottai village of Tamil Nadu's Trichy district, triggering a protest by some members of the CPM.

A 9-foot-high 'untouchability wall' has been built by some people at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in Kalkandar Kottai of Tamil Nadu's Trichy district to separate their farms from colonies of Scheduled Caste people or Dalits. This has triggered a protest by some CPM members. Trichy's CPM zonal head N Karthikeyan said, "Six streets here are occupied by Scheduled Castes, and these people were working in those farms until recently. But now, the farm owners are planning to sell their land for real estate projects and have built this 9-foot wall of untouchability. This kind of discrimination is condemnable."