Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

DPI cadres change names, protesting conversion law

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI APRIL 14. The Dalit Panthers of India, in a symbolic protest against the Prevention of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act today, swapped the Hindu names of hundreds of its cadres and of the public, mostly the Dalits, with ``chaste and secular'' Tamil names.

The general secretary, Thol. Tirumavalavan, at a function here, said even the traces of the identity of the Hindu religion and its culture had to be erased from the names of the Tamils who, he claimed, ``were not Hindus.'' Hinduism, he said, was opposed to equality.

He urged the State Government to waive the fees for getting the new names published in the Government gazzette as ``the DPI cadres were poor.'' The Government was ``leaning'' towards the Kanchi Mutt which was trying to blunt the social empowerment movement of the Dalits, primarily to retain the `varnashramam'-based social order in Hinduism. "Both the BJP-led Central Government and the AIADMK-run State Government are being guided by the heads of various mutts. It is not a secular country as projected," he charged.

Today's protest was against the ``pestering practice of untouchability.'' "When the caste Hindus deny us a dignified life, the Government, instead of restoring an unprejudiced social order, has come out with a `black law' to suppress us.''

Mr. Tirumavalavan said the naming ceremony was the second in five months (the first was organised in Chennai in December). Many non-Dalits also preferred chaste Tamil names. The naming list included 1,800 Christians and 15 Muslims, who hailed from Virudhunagar and Tuticorin districts.

The DPI leader, however, asked the Dalits and other Tamils, who were named after Ambedkar, Kamarajar, Stalin, Prabhakaran, Thileeban and Netaji, to retain their names ``as they symbolised the sacrifices of the great leaders who fought for the downtrodden.''

Earlier, speaking to The Hindu, the DPI leader said the police did not permit the party to hold the meeting inside the city.

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