Survey belies Ramadoss’ claim that Dalit youthare luring girls from other castes into marrying them

Tamil Nadu has too low a percentage of inter-caste marriages for anyone to argue that Dalit youth are luring girls from other castes into marrying them, say writers and academics, citing statistics thrown up by past surveys.
In the backdrop of an ongoing campaign led by Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss, they cite data contained in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-III) (2005-06) and the conclusions submitted at a meeting of the Population Association of America at Princeton University.
Dr. Ramadoss has been campaigning against “fake love marriages” saying, these were only a drama enacted by some (Dalit) youths to extract money from backward class parents after luring their daughters. The State, as per NFHS-III statistics — which are interpreted liberally in the study — exhibits less enthusiasm for inter-caste marriages than most others. Tamil Nadu logs a mere 2.59 per cent (3,441 case studies) against the national average of 10 per cent of 32,154 Hindu couples in a total national sample size of 43,102 ever-married couples.  (Ever married women or men are persons who have been married at least once although their current marital status may not be ‘married’).
Tamil Nadu has the dubious distinction of being one of the three core low performers in inter-caste marriages, the other two being Jammu and Kashmir with a dismal 1.67 per cent followed by Rajasthan at 2.36 per cent.
“The statistics used in two studies – on inter-caste marriages ‘India: Has it really changed over time?’ by Kumudini Das, T. K. Roy, P.K. Tripathy, K.C. Das, Vandana Gautam and also ‘Dynamics of inter-religious and inter-caste marriages in India’ by Kumudini Das, K.C. Das and fellow academics – shed light on a few uncomfortable facts that suggest marriage outside caste is socially unacceptable,” says D. Ravikumar, a writer and leader of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).
Besides, he says, a few other studies with NFHS-III as base data, point out that the percentage of girls of backward castes marrying boys of lower caste, presumably Dalits, is just 1.66 in Tamil Nadu as against the national average of 5.58 per cent. However, Kerala girls marrying men of lower castes account for 12.24 per cent.
Tamil Nadu, with a whopping 97.41 per cent, leads the southern States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala in the preference for same caste marriages. In fact, the ratio of inter-caste marriage in south India is a distressing 8.62 per cent, the study shows.
Madurai-based Dalit writer Stalin Rajangam contends that the campaign against inter-caste marriages involving Dalits is a socially negative move born out of political compulsions.
The PMK, he says, is seeking to portray an ominous picture that a majority of inter-caste marriages are taking place between Dalits and intermediate caste girls. “It is just a myth that girls from other castes marry only Dalits,” he says.
Statistics and studies endorse his views. The number of girls in the age group 15-19 marrying men of lower caste including Dalits, in Tamil Nadu, is zero. But it is 12.5 per cent in Kerala. In fact, 98.68 per cent of girls in the age group of 15 to 19 in Tamil Nadu marry men of their own caste.
However, the ratio of girls in the 20-24 group marrying men of lower caste including Dalits is slightly better at 2.05 per cent against 16.5 per cent in Kerala.
These statistics belie the allegation that girls from the backward castes are being lured by Dalit youth, says Ravikumar.
  • The State, as per NFHS-III statistics exhibits less enthusiasm for inter-caste marriages
  • Percentage of girls of backward castes marrying boys of lower caste is just 1.66
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