On Honor Killings: Anything Is Fair in Love but Caste?

Public conference call with Comrade Kausalya Sankar, social activist, and Comrade Suganthi, Secretary, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Tamil Nadu.

On March 13, 2016, Kausalya’s husband V. Sankar, a Dalit, was brutally murdered by caste fanatics at Udumalpet in Tirupur district, Tamil Nadu, India, in broad daylight. Kausalya, who belongs to a Backward Caste, sustained head injuries. Having been driven to attempt suicide, she gained the confidence not only to live but also to fight such injustices, and turned a social activist.

Comrade Suganthi, from the All India Democratic Women’s Association and the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, was one of the main organisers of a statewide march that covered 350 km between June 9 and 23, 2017 to demand an effective law to tackle honor killings. This march became very instrumental in mobilizing the people against caste discrimination in general and honor killings in particular.

The guests spoke in Tamil, interpreted into English.