The Tsundur Massacre refers to the killing of several
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 ...
people in the village of
Tsundur
Tsundur is a village in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Tsundur mandal in Bapatla revenue division.
Demographics
Census of India, the town had a population of . The total population ...
,
Guntur district
Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, India, on 6 August 1991. 8 Dalits were massacred by
Reddy
Reddy (also transliterated as ''Raddi'', ''Reddi'', ''Reddiar'', ''Reddappa'', ''Reddy'') is a caste that originated in India, predominantly settled in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are classified as a forward caste.
The origin of the ...
men with the alleged help of the police.
When a young graduate Dalit youth was beaten because his feet unintentionally touched a Reddy woman near a cinema hall, the Dalits of the village supported him. As a result, Dalits were socially boycotted by the Reddy landowners of the village. Many Dalits have lost their livelihood as they depend on the daily wages by working in the paddy fields of the Reddys. The significance of this atrocity was Dalits collectively fought to gain legal justice by invoking SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.
Background
The village of Tsundur was locally dominated by the
Reddy
Reddy (also transliterated as ''Raddi'', ''Reddi'', ''Reddiar'', ''Reddappa'', ''Reddy'') is a caste that originated in India, predominantly settled in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are classified as a forward caste.
The origin of the ...
peasantry, who were categorized as
Shudra
Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four '' varnas'' of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class ser ...
s but attained notable economic, social, and political power in Andhra following independence. The Reddy community also participated in the
anti-Brahmin movement to claim
Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
status. Following this post-colonial development, on 7 July 1991, Ravi, a Dalit boy, had accidentally touched a Reddy women sitting in front of him in a cinema hall with his foot.
Ravi apologized immediately, but some Reddy youth roughed him up.
Later, Ravi was tracked down, beat up, and forced to drink
brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
by some Reddy youth, and the Reddy youth brought Ravi to a police station and demanded that he be arrested for allegedly misbehaving with women while drunk.
A parallel incident occurred with another Dalit boy named Rajababu, who was knifed in Tsundur by a certain Krishna Reddy for allegedly grazing his body against two Reddy girls outside a cinema hall, a claim which the Dalit side contests.
Following these two incidents, there were a social boycott of Dalits that lasted a month, which forced them to travel to
Tenali
Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...
to buy basic provisions or
Ongole
Ongole is a city in Prakasam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Prakasam district and also the mandal headquarters of Ongole mandal in Ongole revenue division. Ongole cattle, an indigenous breed of oxen, d ...
for work.
The attacks on the Dalits of Tsundur were carried out to 'teach them a lesson', primarily to try to make them submissive to the local caste Hindus, such as the dominant Reddy peasantry, and comply with their position as 'untouchables'. This position was challenged as Dalit families in the village sought to educate their children so they could be independent of low social status. Many Dalits believed that their caste held a much higher rate of literacy on average than the local Reddy community, who were believed to not be as interested in educational attainment. It is widely believed that these events lead to the massacre
Massacre
On 6 August 1991 at around 11.00 am, police forces suddenly entered the homes of
Mala Dalit families, causing the Mala men to flee into the fields at the request of the local women who were worried about their safety.
Armed Reddy men were lying in wait. and when the Dalit men entered the fields they were hacked down and murdered.
Some of the victims' corpses were thrown into nearby fields while others were thrown in the river.
Local police were reported to have not acted at all to prevent the massacre. The attack was not reported for over 24 hours until a Dalit women escaped the village and walked over 17 miles to notify the district collector in
Guntur
Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...
.
After the massacre, the remaining Dalits fled to
Tenali
Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...
, where they were offered refuge by the Salvation Army Church.
Prosecution
212 people were charged in a total of 12 separate cases regarding the incident. 33 defendants subsequently died and the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
then dismissed the charges citing lack of evidence. A Division Bench comprising Justices L. Narasimha Reddy and M.S. Jaiswal turned down the verdict of trial court saying the prosecution had failed to prove the exact time of death, place of occurrence and the identity of attackers. A report by the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee titled ''The Chundur Carnage August 6'', 1991, was published.
It was reprinted in the anthology
The Hunger of the Republic: Our Present in Retrospect (2021) published by
Tulika Books
Tulika Books is a New Delhi-based independent publisher of scholarly and academic books in the humanities and social sciences, with a "broadly left perspective." The Chennai-based Tulika Publishers is a sister company of Tulika Books.
History
...
.
Bojja Tharakam was senior public prosecutor Tsundur massacre case in the
Andhra Pradesh High Court
The High Court of Andhra Pradesh is the High Court of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The seat of the High Court is currently located at Nelapadu.
History
The High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established in the year 1954 when the sta ...
.
See also
*
Neerukonda massacre
*
Karamchedu massacre
Karamchedu massacre refers to an incident that occurred in Karamchedu, Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh on 17 July 1985, where brutality by Kamma landlords against Madigas (Dalits) resulted in the killing of six Madigas and grievous injuries ...
*
List of Scheduled Castes in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
References
*
*
Further reading
Police Killings and Rural Violence in Andhra Pradesh*
ttp://odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp179.pdf Caste, Class and Social Articulation in Andhra Pradesh*
*
*
{{coord missing, Andhra Pradesh
Caste-related violence in India
Conflicts in 1991
Massacres in 1991
1990s in Andhra Pradesh
August 1991 events in Asia
Massacres in India
1991 in India
Crime in Andhra Pradesh
Dalit history