On July 23, a quarter century ago, what began as a peaceful procession championing the cause of the Manjolai tea estate workers in Tirunelveli district turned into a watery grave for 17 persons attempting to flee from the ‘lathi’ blows of the police. The victims, including two women and a two-year-old toddler, drowned in the Thamirabarani. This incident came to be called the Thamirabarani massacre.
The workers of the 8,374-acre estate, leased out to Bombay Burmah Trading Company, were waging a battle with the management for more pay and better amenities and working hours. They wanted the time they took to walk from the reporting point to the work spot, which could be four kilometres in some areas, to be included in the working hours.
Protesting against penalisation by the management, the workers staged an agitation in June 1999. It led to the detention of 652 persons, including 198 women. On July 23, the Opposition parties — the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), the Puthiya Thamizhagam (PT), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Thamizhaga Muslim Aikkiya Jamaath — took out a procession demanding the release of the workers, a solution to the year-long labour struggle, and take-over of the management by the Tamil Nadu government.
At least 3,000 plantation workers and party men took part in the procession, which was permitted by the police and led by Leader of the Opposition S. Balakrishnan, of the TMC, and MLAs K. Krishnasamy, of the PT, M. Appavu, J.M. Haroon, P. Velthurai, and R. Easwaran.
Stopped at the gate
Balakrishnan and Dr. Krishnasamy, who were in an open jeep at the head of the procession, attempted to submit a petition to Tirunelveli Collector K. Dhanavel. The MLAs were stopped at the first gate of the Collectorate. Violence erupted when the police tried to stop them and the protesters threw stones. The police resorted to a ‘lathi’ charge and opened two rounds of fire in the air. Chaos reigned.
One of the protesters holding the body of a child who was drowned in the river. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
The Hindu initially reported that chased by the police, three persons, including a two-year-old boy (the son of a jailed plantation worker), drowned while crossing the river. In the next two days, 14 bodies were recovered from the riverbed.
“The panic-stricken men and women had no other option but to run towards the river. On seeing the police still pursuing them, they jumped into the water. The policemen did not withdraw even at this stage. Some of them jumped into the water and rained blows on the heads of the protesters with ‘lathis’. Those who jumped into the river were attacked by policemen from both the banks,” reported the Frontline. With the police on three sides, the only escape route open for the marchers was the river. They ran towards the river in the hope of crossing to safety. But they were followed by the police, reports said.
Lensman assaulted
Mediapersons Ramalingam, Abdul Hameed, Arulraj, and Murugan, who covered the demonstration, rescued at least four women; but they withdrew on being challenged by the police. Photojournalist Antony Xavier, who was taking pictures of the rescue operation, was assaulted on the riverbed. The police damaged his camera and threw the film roll into the water, reported Frontline in its issue dated August 13, 1999.
The Collector and Commissioner of Police (in charge) T.K. Rajendran denied reports of police firing during the 35-minute operation. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi castigated TMC leaders, without naming them, for joining hands with “instigators of violence”, an apparent reference to Dr. Krishnasamy.
He said the government and the Collector had no administrative control over the estate, but the Labour Department had organised several rounds of talks between the estate management and the trade union.
The government appointed a commission of inquiry, headed by retired district judge K. Karthikeyan.
‘Violence engineered’
TMC president G.K. Moopanar later alleged that the violence was “engineered” for gains in the 1999 general election. He said the Manjolai issue was a labour dispute, and it was wrong to give it the overtones of a caste dispute just because Dr. Krishnasamy was leading the movement. It was the first time that Moopanar was critical of the government after his party snapped its ties with the ruling DMK.
Moopanar and Dr. Krishnasamy alleged that doctors had been forced to report that the deaths were due to drowning so as to hide the details of the injuries. They sought a fresh post-mortem by doctors from other States, a judicial inquiry by a judge of the Madras High Court, and suspension of the Collector, the DIG and the police personnel on duty.
Law Minister Aladi Aruna contended that it would be unfair to suspect the credibility and commitment of government doctors.
Citing the absence of facilities at the Tirunelveli Medical College and Hospital to preserve the bodies and refusal of the victims’ relatives to receive the bodies, Dhanavel, the Collector, expressed the fear that the bodies might get decomposed and pose a health hazard. The demand for a mass burial on the banks of the river was rejected by the district administration.
Plea for CBI probe rejected
Four days after the tragedy, yielding to the threat of the TMC and the PT that their MLAs and MPs would observe a fast in front of the Secretariat in Chennai on July 28, the government announced that the probe would be conducted by S. Mohan, a retired judge of the Supreme Court. Later, the Madras High Court dismissed a public interest litigation petition that Dr. Krishnasamy filed for a CBI probe.
Mohan submitted his report in June 2000. He almost gave a clean chit to the police and the district administration, but held that the ‘lathi’ charge was “unwarranted” and chasing the protesters amounted to use of excessive force. The report also blamed Dr. Krishnasamy and other leaders for their failure to advise the crowd to exercise restraint, which it said was a “great contributory factor” for the incident.
In the Assembly, Dr. Krishnasamy tore up a copy of the report and staged a walk-out.
