The First Massacre Of Post Independent India Happened In Tamil Nadu
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The first massacre of post independent India happened in Tamilnadu known as the Kilvenmani Massacre, named after the name of the village where it happened. Kilvenmani massacre resulted in 44 deaths, women and children killed by a gang allegedly hired by the landlords. The people who were killed were the Dalits who were protesting for a high wage in the wake of the Green Revolution.

In 1968, agricultural laborers of Tanjore district formed a union to demand better working conditions. The irked landlords started laying off workers who belonged to communist unions. Tensions continued to rise between the landlords and the laborers due to the following events:
1.Laborers held part of the harvest as a negotiating tactic towards landlords.
2. Landlords started hiring laborers from other places to continue harvest.
3. Supporters of laborers were started to be beaten up.

The massacre itself

On 25th December 1968, late in the night, thugs hired by the landlords and the landlords themselves came in huge vehicles and surrounded the huts where the laborers were staying. When they were attacked, a lot of women and children fled the area and took refuge in a hut nearby. The attackers surrounded it and set fire to it, burning them to death. The massacre resulted in the death of 44, including 5 aged men, 16 women, and 23 children.

Two children thrown out from the burning hut in the hope that they would survive were thrown back into the flame by the arsonists. Of six people who managed to come out of the burning hut, two were caught and killed while the rest were thrown back into the fire. If that was not all, the attackers went straight to the police station and demanded protection. The police obliged to the same.

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Editor : The Logical Indian

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