In a major step against the practice of untouchability still prevalent in many parts of the State and elsewhere, the authorities demolished a part of the wall in Sandhaiyur in Periyur Taluk of Madurai District. This wall was the bone of contention between two communities, depriving one particular community of access to the temple.

Two dominant caste people are residing at Sandhaiyur where one particular community had erected a compound wall around the temple where they regularly worship. This was objected to strongly by the other community, which belongs to the economically and socially deprived class. They kept protesting hard for removing this ‘caste-based’ wall which they considered as a huge insult to the entire community.

The relay protest drew the attention of the local authorities who looked into to accusations that the dominant community had erected a compound wall by encroaching upon the public land. Madurai District Collector Veeraraghava Rao, mediated the talks between the two communities on Thursday, paving way for brokering peace between the two communities.

He also ordered demolition of 2-metre long stretch of the compound wall around the temple as it encroached upon public land leading to Anganwadi. Following Collector’s orders, the work to demolish the above-said stretch of the wall commenced in the presence of RDO Sukhanya, thus bringing to an end caste-based discrimination of the lower caste by the upper castes!