School denies Dalit woman panchayat president permission to hoist national flag on Independence Day

In a letter to the Kallakurichi district police and tahsildar, she sought protection to hoist the national flag on 15 August.

She told South First that the school denied permission to her to hoist the national flag on Republic Day as well.

“As many as 10 panchayat chiefs have hoisted the national flag in this school in the last few years, and they were not Dalits. When I asked permission from the headmaster, he denied it,” she said.

On condition of anonymity, one of the former panchayat presidents told South First that no objections had been raised earlier.

“When I was the president, I used to hoist the flag, and nobody objected. However, what has happened this time is sickening,” he said.

Sudha also accused the upper-caste Vanniyar community of discrimination.

“The panchayat chief secretary is a Vanniyar, and he is the reason behind this,” she claimed.

Subramani, the panchayat chief secretary, denied the allegation and added that the panchayat leader was trying to politicise the issue and create caste-based tensions between the two groups.

Sudha’s 41-year-old husband Baradhwaj told South First that there was apparently significant political influence in the backdrop of the issue.

“My wife and I did seek an explanation from the headmaster during the peace meeting held on 8 August, along with the tahsildar and police officials, but he refused to give the reason and said the local MLA would be the guest to hoist the flag,” he said.

However, the headmaster refuted any such claim and told South First that he would hoist the national flag on 15 August.

“I’ve been the headmaster of this school for the last five years, and nobody except members from the Parents Teachers’ association (PTA) or I hoisted the flag on both Republic Day and Independence Day,” the headmaster told South First.

Kallakurichi Superintendent of Police P Pakalavan told South First that the police would take stern action against those discriminating based on caste or religion.

Following the assurance from the SP and citing personal reasons, Sudha told South First that she didn’t file a complaint against the school management over the alleged discrimination.

Jayakumar from People’s Watch — an NGO that tracks human rights violations and discrimination — told South First that the government must instruct bureaucrats and officials to ensure the rights of all the people, and especially the Dalits.

“Nobody should stop anybody from exercising their rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution,” he said.

Sudha is not the only Dalit leader in the state to face discrimination.

In August 2020, V Amrutham, the Dalit leader of Athupakam Panchayat in Tiruvallur, was denied permission to hoist the national flag on Independence Day by Vanniyar-community members and the panchayat secretary.

However, a few days later, she was invited by the district administration and hoisted the flag.