The 2013 Marakkanam violence was an incident of violence in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

between

Pattali Makkal Katchi Paattali Makkal Katchi (; PMK) is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India, founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 for the Vanniyars, a caste in northern Tamil Nadu. It is currently part of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It contests th ...

(PMK) and Dalit villagers in

Marakkanam Marakkanam is a coastal panchayat town & Taluk in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is well connected to the state capital Chennai and the nearby union territory of Puducherry by the East Coast Road. To the west, Marakk ...

. The violence was instigated when drunk PMK cadres attacked

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

villagers. The Dalit villagers blocked the road demanding their attackers be arrested which stopped the vehicle convoy taking PMK members to a youth festival organized by the Vanniyar Sangam at

Mamallapuram Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, is a town in Chengalpattu district in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, best known for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. It is o ...

. The PMK members attacked the Dalit colony and burned down nine huts of Dalits, they attacked homes of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

and offices of

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory) ...

MPs, they vandalized buses, felled trees among other things. In the ensuing violence, two PMK members were killed. Later, S. Ramadoss, his son and several PMK leaders were arrested by the Jayalalithaa government for breaking rules in their festival, which led to even more violence by the PMK members who damaged over 800 buses and felled 165 trees and killed a truck-driver and a lorry driver. The violence caused an estimated property damages worth ₹600 crores. In 2016, six VCK members were convicted for the murder of one of the PMK members.

Background

The PMK declared that on April 25, 2013, the party will hold a festival for Vanniyar youth, as it has done for the last many years. The celebration was to be held on the seaside near the

Shore Temple The Shore Temple (c. 725 AD) is a complex of temples and shrines that overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is located in Mahabalipuram, about south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of gran ...

in Mamallapuram, and it was to be organized by the Vanniyar Sangam. Following the 2012 Dharmapuri violence, there has been a resurgence of antagonism between Dalits and Vanniyars, notably in the western part of the Dharmapuri district.

Violence

PMK cadres in hundreds of vehicles were on their way to attend the youth conference at Mahaballipuram. Some PMK cadre stopped near a bus stop at a Dalit village in Marakkanam colony and consumed alcohol. When a few villagers questioned them, the PMK men assaulted the villagers and fled the scene. The injured villagers warned others in their hamlet and a huge number of Dalits blocked on the East Coast Road and demanded that the perpetrators be apprehended by the police. This block stranded the PMK vehicle convoy. Unable to reach their destination, the PMK members went on a rampage. A group of PMK members entered Kattayan Theru, a Dalit settlement, and hurled petrol bombs at the Dalit houses which burned down nine huts. The majority of Kattayan Theru's population are followers of the

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (; VCK) formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (; DPI) is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state o ...

(VCK). The

which is one of the World Heritage Site was desecrated by PMK members who had assembled in

for a festival for the youth form the Vanniyar caste. Other vandalism occurred that day and the following days, including setting fire to private and government buses, vehicles, ration stores and liquor outlets, wrecking culverts, and chopping down trees. They attacked

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

homes in the adjoining village of

Koonimedu Koonimedu is a panchayat village in Tamil Nadu, India. It is part of the Marakkanam block of the Viluppuram district and is located 16 kilometres from Pondicherry and from Chennai. It has a population of approximately 5000 people, of whom 50% a ...

. Houses and offices of governing

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mini ...

(AIADMK) Members of the Parliament were also attacked by PMK members. Two PMK cadres, Selvaraj and Vivek were killed.

Arrests

Ramadoss was detained by Chief Minister

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

for breaking the rules for holding the party meeting in Mamallapuram. PMK president G.K. Mani, Ramadoss' son Anbumani Ramadoss, former Union Minister A.K. Moorthy,

Kaduvetti Guru Kaduvetti Guru, (born, J. Gurunathan) also known as J. Guru, (1 February 1961 – 25 May 2018) was an Indian politician, who was twice elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu. He was the president of the caste organization ...

were also detained by the police. Ramadoss and Mani were placed in judicial custody at Tiruchi Central Prison, while the others were detained in

Puzhal Central Prison Pulhal Central Prison is a central prison complex located in Chennai (Chennai District), India. It is about 23 km from the city centre. The prison became operational from 2006 replacing the erstwhile Chennai Central Prison. Construction The p ...

. Old cases involving Ramadoss, Anbumani, and Kaduvetti Guru were reopened.

Violence due to the arrests

This arrest spread violence across the state. PMK cadres stoned the buses to protest against the arrest of their leaders. In the districts of

Thiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...

Villupuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...

and

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

, some 1,601 buses were not operated even during day time due to violence. The violence took place till the release of S Ramadoss on 11 May from Tiruchirapalli Central Prison. Totally, 853 buses were damaged and 165 trees were cut down during violence. A truck driver from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

was killed when petrol bombs hit his truck and a lorry driver was killed from stone pelting. The violence caused property damages estimated worth ₹600 crores. Jayalalitha likened the party to a “

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

” organization and claimed they hurled

petrol bombs A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flammab ...

on moving vehicles. Jayalalithaa threatened to ban PMK party over the violence.

Court proceedings and conviction

The police detained ten persons in September 2016, a couple of weeks after the

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

directed the arrest of 32 PMK cadres for setting fire to houses during the riots. Marakanam police filed case against 1,512 persons from both sides and inquired further. Initially it was said by police that Selvaraj was killed by accident but after post mortem reports revealed stab injuries on his body, the police changed the accident case to murder case. On 9 May 2013, the CB-CID officials registered a murder case against six VCK cadres for attacking PMK cadre Selvaraj. On 3 February 2016 sessions court in Tindivanam pronounced the judgement that all the six accused VCK cadres were found guilty and convicted to life imprisonment for brutally killing Selvaraj. The judge pronounced the crime to be ‘rarest of rare’ while awarding the life sentence. The case on other person killed named Vivek is still under proceedings.

References