The 1995 caste reprisals that scarred southern T.N. also touched Communist leader Nallakannu’s life

The recent passing of Communist Party of India (CPI) veteran R. Nallakannu has revived memories of a dark chapter in Tamil Nadu’s history and of a profound personal tragedy he endured.

On December 3, 1995, Nallakannu’s 84-year-old father-in-law, A.K. Annasamy, was murdered by a gang while he was asleep at his house in Marudanvalvu village, then part of Chidambaranar district (now Thoothukudi district). The killing unfolded at a time when southern Tamil Nadu was in the grip of sustained caste violence.

Annasamy’s murder was not an isolated incident. Through the 1990s, large parts of southern Tamil Nadu were rocked by repeated caste clashes, leading to heavy loss of life and property and instilling fear among residents. The worst-affected areas were Tirunelveli Kattabomman and Chidambaranar districts, where tensions between Maravars, a caste Hindu land-holding community, and Pallars, now classified within the Devendra Kula Vellalars, a Scheduled Caste group, frequently erupted into violence.

Perusal of archival reports in The Hindu and its sister publication, Frontline, which extensively covered the clashes, reveals that hundreds of lives were lost to these caste-related violences in the last decade of the 20^th century.

Escalation of conflict

The sporadic unrest that began in the early 1990s resurfaced sharply in 1995 after a relative lull. On July 26, 1995, a quarrel between a bus driver and a group of schoolboys escalated. It reached a flashpoint following a kabaddi match at a government school, triggering a fresh cycle of confrontation.

By the end of August, close to 600 police personnel descended on Kodiyankulam, an all-Scheduled Caste village in Chidambaranar district. The village was subjected to ransacking and widespread destruction of property. After this incident, there was a brief hiatus of nearly two months.

However, the calm did not last long. A Scheduled Caste cowherd was brutally killed in Kodiyankulam on November 28. A couple of days later, on December 1, another member of the community working in a quarry in Tirunelveli Kattabomman district was killed by a group of Maravars. The following day, two passengers from the Maravar community were killed on a bus. In retaliation, four Scheduled Caste members were killed.

The clashes soon spread to neighbouring Chidambaranar district. On December 3, within a span of three hours, four Maravars, including a father-son duo and a Village Administrative Officer, were killed at different locations in Maniyachi taluk. Annasamy was among those killed. By December 1995, the violence had spiralled into a brutal chain of reprisals, claiming close to 38 lives within six months, according to a report published in Frontline in December 1995.

“The disfigurement of a statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar at Nannagaram, near the residence of the then Union Minister of State for Industries M. Arunachalam in his home constituency of Tenkasi, 50 km from Tirunelveli, triggered violence in the area, in which some houses and shops were burnt down,” the report noted.

Plaints of police excesses

The report also said the attack on the car of an AIADMK MP, allegedly by members of the Scheduled Caste, turned the wrath of the police against some of their settlements nearby. The Scheduled Caste inhabitants of Nannagaram and Vallam villages complained of police excesses.

Residents of Nannagaram said they were hurt the Union Minister did not visit the village though they had stood by him. Neither the District Collector nor any other senior official had called on them. In Vallam, Maravar residents confirmed allegations of police excesses against their Scheduled Caste neighbours, with whom they said they had lived in harmony for decades, the Frontline report said.

Govt. action

The Jayalalitha-led government faced severe criticism for not taking adequate measures to contain the violence and promote communal harmony. K. Krishnasamy, president of the Federation of Devendrakula Vellalar Associations (now Puthiya Tamilagam leader), alleged the violence could have taken place “only with the blessings of those with high political connections.” He said the Scheduled Castes had lost faith in the State administration and the police, and demanded the deployment of Central security forces.

Breaking her silence, Chief Minister Jayalalitha [as her name was spelt then] warned of stern action against those who instigated violence. In a statement, she said peace had initially been restored in the districts because of the government’s impartial action and claimed fresh disturbances were caused by individuals unhappy with that restoration. She also announced a solatium for the families of those killed.

Steadfast in his stance

In a recent obituary to the CPI veteran in Frontline, senior journalist Ilangovan Rajasekaran recalled that Nallakannu, who was then the State secretary of the party, harboured no ire despite his personal loss. Mr. Rajasekaran, who was at that time The Hindu’s Correspondent in southern Tamil Nadu, spoke about how Nallakannu had politely declined to comment on the tragedy when approached. Instead, he rushed to Thoothukudi to take part in a peace march in riot-affected villages instead of attending his father-in-law’s funeral.

A report in The Hindu noted in the aftermath, Annasamy’s widow, Santhosi, announced a trust would be formed using the ₹50,000 solatium offered by the government to support the education of poor children in Chidambaranar district. The Crime Branch CID police on January 13, 1996, arrested 19-year-old Murugesan of Naraikinaru in connection with the murder of Annasamy.

Published – March 04, 2026 06:00 am IST