SAMAJ WEEKLY UK
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Another ‘honour’ killing in Tamil Nadu, this time in Tirunelveli, where a software engineer from the Scheduled Caste community was hacked to death by the family of the girl he loved since childhood. #KevinSelvaganesh was a 27-year-old young man, once a brilliant student, and now working at Tata Consultancy Services. He was in a relationship with Subashini, his school days girlfriend, and was planning to marry her. It seems that the girl’s parents knew about it. Both of them work with the Tamil Nadu Police, and it appears a plan was hatched by the family to eliminate Kevin. The girl’s brother, Surjith, enticed Kevin when he had gone to meet her to discuss certain issues. Unfortunately, Kevin, as reported in the media, trusted Subashini’s brother Surjith and went along with him. After some distance, Surjith suddenly stopped his scooter, abused Kevin and hacked him to death with a sickle he was carrying. Thus, another brilliant young man was slaughtered in Tamil Nadu just for the sake of false ‘caste’ pride. It is extremely disturbing to see this kind of crime being committed in Tamilnadu regularly. Not that it does not happen elsewhere and we have recently seen in Gurgram where a young girl Radhika Yadav was murdered by her father though it was not mentioned that the case belongs to an honored killing but in fact it was. Tamilnadu is a model state for many of us who respect the Dravidian movement and the heroics of Thanthai Periyar. His struggle for justice and dignity are role models for others outside the state but it is also a fact that the political parties swearing to the ideology of Periyar have not been able to do anything beyond their traditional rhetoric on the issue. #Anticaste movement and philosophy is not merely #Antibrahmin movement but it must actually support the independence of individuals as espoused by Baba Saheb Ambedkar as well as Thanthai Periyar.
The increasing number of these killings in #TamilNadu also reflects a social reality of our country: so-called social reforms are acceptable as long as we maintain our own caste identities and hierarchies. It is a sad reality that while Tamil Nadu has done better on many indicators than the rest of the country, in interpersonal caste relationships, it remains violent whenever the norms of castes are challenged. It is reported that between 2018 and 2023, there were nearly 400 dishonour crimes, including honour killings, in Tamil Nadu, while, like every other state, the government records suggested only 13 honour killings took place during the same period. Nationally, government data indicates around 500 honour killings since 2014, predominantly targeting women, but activists argue the actual number is much higher due to underreporting and cases disguised as suicides. It remains a stratified society which feels proud of ‘graded inequality’ as Baba Saheb Ambedkar said and that is why the fight here is much more difficult. The rights of individuals are often overridden by the combined strength of caste identities. In the name of these caste identities, we don’t hesitate to slaughter the individuals. And it happens when the laws are not honestly implemented and political parties least bothered as caste is a tool for them.
Brutalization of Dalits and Caste Dynamics
Look at the economic and educational background of both the boy and the girl. Kevin’s mother is a teacher, while Subashini’s parents are sub-inspectors working with the Tamil Nadu Police. Both are well-qualified. Kevin was a brilliant student, completed his engineering, and joined TCS, while Subhasini was working as a consultant with a private Siddha clinic after completing her Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery. Kevin’s mother was a teacher with a Panchayat, while his father was a farm worker. This shows that education has not changed our social thought, and caste identities in India remain the most vital factor. All other formulations by social scientists and politicians are a farce. Each caste in India wants to remain distinct, claim to be the purest, and boast of a great past. This is a harsh reality.
In the current case, Kevin belonged to the Devendra Kula Vellalar, categorized as a Scheduled Caste, while Subashini belonged to the Maravar community, categorized as a Most Backward Community. Interestingly, the Devendra Kula Vellalar, a combination of seven communities officially, has been campaigning to be delisted from the Scheduled Caste category. I remember the leader of the community, Dr. K. Krishnasamy, leader of the Puthiya Tamilagam party, has been at the forefront of this campaign. Sadly, it was the same Krishnasamy who got ‘inspired’ by BSP’s rise in #UttarPradesh and wanted to replicate that in #TamilNadu, but after 20 years, I found him leading a campaign to delist from the SC list. I asked many friends participating in the protest why they wanted to dissociate, and they said they did not want to be associated with Scheduled Castes as they are not untouchables and face caste stigma. Look at the irony: a brilliant boy from the Devendra Kula Vellalar community is hacked to death by a family from the Maravar community who felt they were from an inferior caste.
Dalits, classified as Scheduled Castes (SCs), face systemic brutalization in Tamil Nadu and across India, particularly when they challenge caste norms through inter-caste relationships or social mobility. Dominant castes, such as the Thevars, Vanniyars, and Maravars, often react violently to perceived threats to their caste identity, driven by a sense of entitlement and fear of losing social dominance. This violence is not limited to SCs but extends to intra-caste dynamics within Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Most Backward Communities (MBCs), as seen in cases like the 2020 killing of M. Sudhakar, an MBC youth, for marrying a Vanniyar woman.
No politician wants to end it. #Caste has become the biggest instrument for political mobilization. You don’t need to do anything but invoke caste and create a false notion of historical pride, and thousands will join you. The Babas are doing it differently, using Hindutva identity, but they cannot eliminate castes because they themselves suffer from the disease of caste purity.
Another important point: the girl’s parents are working with the police. They are sub-inspectors. What does this reflect? The Constitution is not part of our socialization process. We don’t respect it. We need it when we are in trouble; otherwise, we don’t. At the end of the day, we are dedicated to our caste identities, and all other created identities discovered later for political expediency and sweeping generalizations by social scientists are nothing but fictions. Go to any village, and you will find the only terminology people use is their caste identity, not #OBC, #Dalit, or #MBC but their own #jaatis. The categorization of identities is done for governance purposes, but it has not eliminated the walls of caste identities internally anywhere and it looks perfect as long as there are no interpersonal relationships. In politics, we can shout ‘All Bahujans are united’, All Dalit Bahujan Adivasi Muslim are one, but the fact is each one of us and our political leaders are using these terminologies for their own purposes. In the end, caste matters. It is the most powerful instrument to get political power but at the same time it can be highly regressive for individuals who cross the boundaries. The #anticaste battle is diluted and few takers but sociologically we all wish to enjoy the privileges of castes. As an individuals, Dalits, OBCs and others face enormous issues and problems in the universities and work places where they are a micro minority but in the villages it gives strength to communities to assert as a community identity and everything is great and wonderful as long as we have not crossed those boundaries of the castes. It does not matter whether you are marrying in the same castes or the other.
Reflection on the Anti-Caste Movement
The #anticaste movement will not succeed when parties inject caste pride among people and use it as a tool for their political mobilisation. Very few cases reach the police station or the court of law. Most of the time, they are treated as mere murder cases and disappear after some noise in the media. There is little follow-up. The Indian media has no time for it. It will have time when it is useful for the benefit of political masters. #Anticaste movement will not succeed as long as it does not come out against all forms of violence. It must speak vocally and not as per convenience. A few days back we saw the same honour killing in #Gurugram where #RadhikaYadav was killed by her father, but very conveniently the #caste intellectuals kept silent. It was not their issue. The issue would have only become a caste issue if some other caste had killed her. Sadly, no politician of the #SocialJustice parties and their intellectuals speak on the issue. This reflects the absolute hypocrisy of the people claiming to work on the #anticaste movement or for #socialjustice.
Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian movement, rooted in Periyar’s anti-caste ideology, aimed to dismantle caste hierarchies, yet the state’s record on honour killings reveals a disconnect. The movement’s focus on self-respect marriages has been diluted, failing to protect inter-caste couples adequately. Political parties often exploit caste pride for votes, undermining anti-caste efforts. The lack of a specific national law against honour killings, reliance on general penal provisions, and inconsistent application of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act further hinder justice.
Kausalya’s Historic Struggle for Justice
I remember the case of Kausalya and Sankar in 2016, when Kausalya’s parents butchered her husband Sankar, a Dalit young man, in Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu. Kausalya belonged to the #Thevar community, and her parents despised her marriage to Sankar. After the murder, Kausalya continued to stay with her in-laws’ house and was determined to fight for justice for Sankar. She testified against her family, leading to a 2017 lower court ruling that sentenced six individuals, including her father, Chinnasamy, to death. However, the Madras High Court overturned the convictions in 2020, acquitting most of them, prompting Kausalya to appeal to the Supreme Court, where the case remains pending. Her continued activism against caste-based violence exemplifies her resilience and makes her a shining example of #anticaste activism in Tamil Nadu.
Kausalya’s historic fight to get justice and continue to work in the memory of Sankar is a shining example of #anticaste activism in Tamil Nadu despite the social problem, but one cannot isolate Tamil Nadu for this issue. At least in Tamil Nadu, activists are speaking up, and valiant fighters like Kausalya continue to fight for it despite personal losses. Now, the murder of Kevin has again brought the issue of tense caste relations in Tamil Nadu to the forefront. Will Subashini fight for Kevin’s rights like Kausalya did? It is time for all victims of caste hatred and caste violence to stand up and speak. We hope the Tamil Nadu government will act swiftly and constitute a special court for this case. It is time for the government to come clean on this and act to get Kevin’s parents justice.
