Kilvenmani massacre

The Kilvenmani massacre was an incident in Tamil Nadu in 1969 in which a group of c.42 striking Dalit (untouchable) village labourers were murdered by a gang allegedly sent by their landlords. It became a notable event in left wing political campaigns of the time and in Dravidianist ideology.

The incident occurred when the landless peasants were influenced by the Communist Party of India to organise themselves into a campaign for higher wages following the boom in agricultural production created by the green revolution. Following this, a gang arrived at the Kilvenmani village in Eastern Thanjavur, herded a group of c.42 villagers into a hut and burned them to death. [ [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=97732681 Kathleen Gough, "Indian Peasant Uprisings", "Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars", Vol. 8, 1976] ] [ [http://cssaame.com/issues/18_1/RACINES.pdf Josian Racine & Jean Racine, "Dalit Identities and the Dialectic of Oppression and Emancipation in a Changing India: The Tamil Case and Beyond"] ]

In the subsequent trial the landlords could not be convicted of involvement in the event.

References

Further reading

Hugo Gorringe, "Which is Violence? Reflections on Collective Violence and Dalit Movements in South India", "Social Movement Studies", Volume 5, Number 2 / September 2006, p.117 - 136