Nobility has no caste!

There have been love marriages involving Dalits and intermediate communities, but they never caught the attention of the world. The love affair between Ilavarasan and Divya bore the brunt of casteism as it happened at a time when Dr. Ramadoss revisited his old plank of Vanniyar mobilisation on the lines of a campaign he undertook in the 1980s to secure exclusive reservation for the community.
The PMK always had a Dalit as its general secretary and when the party got a berth in the Union government, Dr. Ramadoss made his friend and general secretary Dalit Ezhilmalai Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. After Ezhilmalai fell out with the party leadership, Dr. Ramadoss appointed another Dalit, E. Ponnusamy, general secretary and later a Minister at the Centre. Though he sought to reach out to all sections, Dr. Ramadoss’ gesture was not taken in the right spirit in the PMK, which is predominantly a Vanniyar party. After mobilising a political party on sectarian lines, he could not afford to be accommodative and reward a member of another community.
Meanwhile, Puthiya Tamilagam founder K. Krishnaswamy, MLA, and Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan have said the government should have adopted a tough stand against the PMK campaign against inter-caste marriages.
“That a marriage involving in inter-caste couple could not be saved indicates the failure of the State,” Dr. Krishnasamy said. He said the Anaithu Samudhaya Padhugappu Iyakkam, forum of non-Dalit castes, was established in the State and anti-scheduled caste feelings were fomented. This was against the Constitution and could attract action under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The government machinery, which ought to protect the weaker sections, did nothing to prevent such a forum from spewing anti-Dalit rhetoric. The forum sought to create a wedge between communities.
“The government gave a long rope to these casteist forces to function and gain a psychological impetus to oppress the Dalits. If the State had taken proper action, the Dalit boy’s death could have been prevented,” the PT leader added.
Thirumavalavan has said “The whole episode, starting from the Dharmapuri anti-Dalit violence to the separation of the inter-caste couple, was orchestrated by the PMK with political motives.” The PMK took complete control of the girl’s family and twisted the matter in court. “The government which supports inter-caste marriages with financial assistance under special schemes failed to protect the inter-caste couple.”
The campaign, at its peak, was that Dalit men wearing fashionable clothes and cooling glasses lured girls from other castes with false promises of marriage and discarded them after collecting money from their families.
Ilavarasan, in his short-lived relationship with Divya, has proved Dr. Ramadoss and his ilk wrong.
His father Elangovan has gone a step further and shamed the casteist forces by his noble  gesture for his daughter-in-law.
“We still believe Divya is our daughter and we would never misunderstand her, said Elangovan. After Ilavarasan’s death, the family that was plunged in despair did not disown Divya.
Speaking to reporters, Elangovan has said, “We would never misunderstand Divya because we know her well. The decision to reject my son was not of her, she was influenced by a few political parties. It’s the interference of political parties that is the only reason for my son’s death, not Divya.”
 Whenever they talk about Divya, Ilavarasan’s parents refer to her as daughter. “She was not our daughter-in-law, she was our daughter and that was how we treated her. After her father’s suicide, we took extra care of her. She also used to call me ‘Appa’. Now, some people are abusing Divya with words of hatred, we don’t agree with what is being said; we strongly believe that Divya was not the reason for my son’s death.”
Making an appeal to Divya to come to his house, he said, “Divya rejected my son saying her mother was alone, now we are alone. Although we have one more son, we are alone because he is in the army and is deployed in Manipur. If Divya comes back, we will treat her like a queen. We will even arrange for her to marry again if she is willing, at our own expenses.”
After Divya’s father Nagaraj committed suicide, Elangovan says he and his family took great care of Divya. “She used to call me ‘Appa’ and would promptly give me glass of water whenever I enter home after work”.
Both father and son proved that nobility has no caste! So too the above mentioned casteist forces by negative example!     r