Meenakshipuram, 33 Years On - Muslims Happy, Hindus Not - Rediff

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Rediff.com News Meenakshipuram, 33 years on: Muslims happy, Hindus not
Meenakshipuram, 33 years on: Muslims

happy, Hindus not
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January 12, 2015 10:30 IST
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visits the village in Tamil Nadu that shot into
national prominence in 1981 when half the Dalits there converted to Islam. He
spoke to the Hindus and Muslims and came back with two very different stories.
n 1981, Meenakshipuram, a small village near Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district,
leapt into the national limelight when half the Dalits there converted from Hinduism to Islam.
Now 33 years later, those who converted to Islam say they are happy, but don't want anyone to
know and those who remained Hindus say they are not and want everyone to know.
In Meenakshipuram you will find neighbours, belonging to different religions, but from the
same family.
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A middle-aged man tells
Rediff.com, "It is more than
30 years since we converted.
How the hell does it matter
today? Why can't you leave us
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A young man nearby says, "I
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speak to them."
The village elders agree to speak to Rediff.com as long as we did not ask for their names or take
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The eldest, who seems around 70, says, "We converted to Islam because there is no social
discrimination and we are all equals. We wanted to be treated as equals and now we are happy
that we chose to convert. We are being treated as equals."
This is what he told Rediff.com:
19-Nov-15 5:47 AM
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Why the diktat that no one should talk to the press?

Journalists from an English newspaper and a Tamil magazine came here and we spoke to
them. Another Tamil magazine published a story about our village without even coming here.
After the interviews, many of our friends called, asking us why we were drawing attention to
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foreigners in
Bangladesh
ourselves.
When we go outside the village, we don't want to be attacked. I agree that we have never been
attacked for being Muslims. I don't even know if you will write what I tell you or what you
perceive.
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Why are you so opposed to journalists?

I am not against the media. Don't you read the newspapers? Conversion is a big issue today.
They are converting people back to Hinduism. So we don't want to talk about conversion even
if ours happened over three decades ago.
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How does reconversion help? It is a volatile issue. We don't want to talk about it.
How many families live here?
There are 215 families with 860 members. We are farmers. There are a few who own land. We
work in each other's fields even if we own land.
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What about education?

There is a primary panchayat school in the village, then till 12th we have to go to Panpoli
village which is 3 kilometres away or Chengottai which is 5 km away. There is a matriculation
school, English medium, near our village, those who can afford their high fees go there.
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And higher education?

There is an arts college for girls at Kuttalam, 10 km away and another 28 km away and a
private engineering college about 15 km away. The nearest government engineering college is
in Tirunelveli.
How many of your children have gone for higher education?
We have 10 engineers, another 10 in engineering college and one girl in medical college.
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I know we lost out on reservation, but that doesn't bother us. We don't want reservation. We
are happy to be treated as equals.
What about marriage?
We marry within our religion. Most of the marriages have taken place in and around Tenkasi.
We like our kids to be nearby.
Image, published for representative purposes only.
he Hindu story: 'Nothing has changed for us'
Like the Muslims, the Hindus
also have their village leader
and we are directed to speak
to him.
19-Nov-15 5:47 AM
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He meets us in the village tea

shop surrounded by people.
Everyone interacts with us,
but the leader does most of
the speaking.
M Karuppiah, 67, is a farmer.
He says most of the Dalits are
farm labourers with a few
having small land holdings. When we ask him about the conversions in 1981, he says, "We have
our village temple here. We have our God. We did not want to change our God and therefore
we did not convert. We have no regrets about not converting. We are happy as Hindus. But the
problem we faced then, we still face today."
Here is what he tells Rediff.com:
Are any of you involved in business?
We have 500 families here and no one is doing business. You know why? Except our people, no
one will come to our shop to buy anything.
Even if we open a shop in the nearby town of Tenkasi the minute they find out we are from
Meenakshipuram, they will not come to our shop.
Maybe if we go to Chennai and do business then people might interact with us, but who has the
money for that.
If you sell everything cheap, people will come to your shop.
You want us to run a business at a loss just to make people come to us. The business won't run
very long.
Another villager interjects, "People hate us, we don't know why."
How many have regular jobs?
We have two doctors, six in the police, two working in the railways, two teachers and one of
our villagers works in the Koodangulam Nuclear Power Project.
What about marriage?
We marry among our own people settled all over Tamil Nadu.
You said the problems you faced then, you still face today.
At that time, an upper-caste Hindu was murdered. Our entire village was targeted with
violence. The police should have been impartial, but they supported the upper-castes. So many
villagers left because of that.
In sheer desperation, half our villagers converted. After that, leaders came down from Delhi.
Our village was in every newspaper in the country. We told them our problems and the
government became impartial after that. We were safe from police action.
Today the government is impartial, but the caste clashes haven't stopped.
You must have seen policemen sitting in the middle of the village. A month back some young
boys from our village got involved in a brawl with upper-caste boys from another village. It
could have stopped with that as both groups were drunk.
But it did not. Since then, their people have attacked our boys twice and our people have
attacked their boys twice.
When the police called for a peace meeting, from our side we and our Muslim brothers went
together. The upper-caste people brought their own people.
So you see we are peace with the Muslims here, but we are not at peace with people from our
own religion.
19-Nov-15 5:47 AM
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That is why I said nothing has changed in over 30 years.

Image: Hindu villagers in Meenakshipuram with their headman, M Karuppiah.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com in Meenakshipuram, Tamil Nadu
Related News: Meenakshipuram, Muslim, M Karuppiah, Tamil Nadu, Muslims
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Discussion Board
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Total 232 messages
Pages | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Older > >>
We need Secularism like the West

by Confused Mind (View MyPage) on Jan 19, 2015 08:28 AM | Hide replies
Before British the world economy was based on petty trading of spices
and goods. There was no serious science, education, research, sports.
Only playing gulli-danda all day and some mediocre gurukuls.
East is barbaric and backward. West is scientific and civilized.
The West is not Xtian but Secular like Greek & Rome.
Macaulay came to civilise India and did to a large
extent. The British have civilised the world. Every
development you see around in this world is because
of the British. From science, technology, democracy,
medicine to English language unification and so forth.
Singapore and Hong Kong developed because it rejected
the past and adopted the British. Adopt
the Truth and scientific ways of the West and British.
India is slightly better than neighboring countries that
they do not kill people over cartoons.
Forward | Report abuse

Re: We need Secularism like the West
by adrgdr adrgdr (View MyPage) on Jan 19, 2015 01:33 PM
Ok all hail the ones who thinkVirgins can give birth.
Scientifc knowledge to the extreme
Bill Maher is Right

by Confused Mind (View MyPage) on Jan 19, 2015 08:19 AM
Most people believe that moral progress has primarily been due to the guiding light of religious
teachings, the activities of spiritual leaders, and the power of faith-based initiatives. In The
Moral Arc the author argues that this is not the case, and that most moral progress is the result
of science, reason, and secular values developed during the Enlightenment.
Hinduism affected by BAD application of Casteism

by Truth Speaker (View MyPage) on Jan 18, 2015 01:37 PM | Hide replies
How much damage has come to "Hinduism' by deviating the True Barnashram (Casteism) from "Gita / Vedant" to a
wr0ng application by creation of disrespect to the weak sections of the society ????
Which was originally a work demarkation only (in Gita) according to individual capability, we changed it to degrade
lower caste people !!! WHY ???
Which was originally for individuals (like today's exam system), we changed it to 'by birth' ...
Like a Doctor's next generation can be a player or an armyman, G0D never guaranteed a so-called brahomin's next
generation will have aptitude for another brahomin and sudra's son/daughter will not have capability for King !!!
WHY we thought it ? G0D never said so !!!

Re: Hinduism affected by BAD application of Casteism
by Aprameya (View MyPage) on Jan 18, 2015 11:56 PM
Dear Moha_mmad here is the question of_Conversion to_ISLAM
Problem_of_Castism_in_Hindus_and_its_eradication should be the topic

Re: Hinduism affected by BAD application of Casteism
by Aprameya (View MyPage) on Jan 19, 2015 12:04 AM
U seem to know hardly anything about_Brhamins even matter of fact good number of_Brhamins
or even if they know they cant follow those things
U compared_Brhamins to some doctor or player is not money earning profession.
19-Nov-15 5:47 AM
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19-Nov-15 5:47 AM

Meenakshipuram, 33 Years On - Muslims Happy, Hindus Not - Rediff

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