Death is not a leveller

I work in Cuddalore and commute to Pondicherry in the weekends. It was a Saturday evening and after a week’s hectic work, I was eagerly looking forward to a wonderful evening to spend with my family.

I was driving my car from Cuddalore to Pondicherry. The Cuddalore-Pondicherry road houses a lot of Engineering / Medical Colleges and hospitals & is always bustling with traffic. You are fortunate if you cross the 20 Kms road in less than an hour.

As usual the road was congested and I was driving cautiously as the villagers cross the road recklessly. My half an hour drive was so tiring and I had not even crossed half the distance.

All of a sudden the vehicles stopped moving. I waited for 10 minutes impatiently for the traffic to clear but in vain. I enquired with the passerby and he had no clue as to why there is a traffic jam. I decided to sneak through the traffic and maneuvered in all possible ways to move forward.

I reached a crossroads. There were no vehicles ahead of me but I could see a big crowd. I thought it was an accident and started moving slowly. Suddenly a group of young men rushed to my car and threatened me not to move the vehicle and asked me to get down from the car.

I hesitated for a while before I was forced out of the car. One guy tried to break the car wind shield while others stopped him. The man angrily told me “Why are trying to drive the car while all others are waiting?”

As I enquired about the issue with the people who had gathered there, I could see a dead man in a decorated Palanquin (customary in Tamilnadu) and the Palanquin placed in the middle of the crossroads blocking the traffic.

The situation was tense and emotive. A large section of men and women, some with placard, were shouting slogans against a Caste Hindu. I approached a lady who was close to me and asked her why they have blocked the roads.

I was shocked to understand from that lady that they belong to the oppressed community and they were not allowed to cremate the body in the burial ground by a Caste Hindu. She also told me that they were attacked with lethal weapons forcing them to retreat. She claimed that their community people are not allowed to perform the last rites in the burial ground and every time they attempt to cremate a body, they are assaulted. Also she claimed that they are fighting for the last 20 years for allocation of land for this purpose and their grievances are not heard so far by the administration.

The situation was going out of control and I was warned by the onlookers to remove my car as my car was in the close proximity to the agitators. But, I did not want to run away from the scene without doing anything as I felt that the agitators had a reason to fight.

I immediately called one of the councilors belonging to that particular community who in turn informed the police. The police were already informed of the agitation and they were on the spot meanwhile.

The Police Officials tried to pacify the crowd. I also joined the Police officials in the negotiation. But they were not convinced and demanded action against the perpetrators of the violence and those who abet the perpetrators. The senior officials reached the spot and they joined the negotiation. However, the agitators were not giving up and they demanded the intervention of the Collector. The police officials got in touch with the Collector and it was understood from the police officials that the Collector assured immediate action against the law breakers. The agitators continued their demand for Collector’s intervention in allocating burial ground for them and wanted the Collector to arrive at the spot and hear their grievances. The police official assured them that the Collector would hear them the next day but the agitators were not convinced.

Finally, the Collector had to arrive at the scene to pacify the agitated people and assured them of all support. Only after hearing straight from horse’s mouth, the agitators removed the body. The body was escorted by police to the burial ground.

The young man who did accost me and abused me earlier approached me and begged my apology. I uttered a few consoling words. I felt whatever has happened is cruel and they deserve justice.

I am of a strong opinion that the evil designs of misintrepreted Manusmriti are so deep rooted in the system that the society neither allows an oppressed person to live happily nor to die peacefully.

I remembered the lines of Mr.J. Shirley’s in Death The Leveller:

The garlands wither on your brow:
Then boast no more your mighty deeds;
Upon Death's purple altar now
See where the victor-victim bleeds.
Your heads must come
To the cold tomb:
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in their dust.

Published for MSN.COM
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