Main Article Content
Abstract
The 28th report of the commissioner for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe reported that by February, 1986 there were about 10,000 jogins belong to scheduled castes in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh. The prevalence of this system has been observed in large parts of Andhra Pradesh. The survey conducted by District Collector and Scheduled Caste Finance Corporation revealed the prevalence of 15850 cases and 80 percent of the Joginis belong to Scheduled Castes. Under this social and religious system the unfortunate village girls are married to a village god by their parents. These girls are then sexually exploited by the upper caste landlords and rich men of the village who have initiated the process of “Divine marriage”. This socially “sanctioned” prostitution has been prevalent in large areas of Telengana, which adjoins Karnataka where similar practice of Devadasi exists. The Devdasi system also exists in parts of western Maharashtra (Kolhapur, Solapur and Dharwad). The first and major atrocity, leaving a lasting impression on the psyche of dalits all over Tamil Nadu was the killing of Immanual (one of the dedicated fighters for dalits rights) at Mudukulathur Village in 1957, From them onwards, a number of atrocities have been happening every year. In 1968, 48 dalits in more than 29 different parts of the state. During the late 1980s a series of caste clashes occurred in North Tamil Nadu. But during 1990s caste clashes escalated in the Southern districts. South Tamil Nadu faced a civil war of situation due to Thevar-dalit clashes.