Not a day passed last week without a death or two in the backward district, beginning from Gandhi Jayanti, October 2. Predictably, AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha has been taking pot-shots at the DMK Government on account of the caste clashes, citing them as a proof of the breakdown of law and order situation in the state and another ground for dismissal of the M. Karunanidhi regime. Jayalalitha has even met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and PresidentK.R. Narayanan with such a plea.

However, the fact is that the caste war between the Dalit and the Thevars has been continuing off and on for the past 40 years, irrespective of who is in power in Tamil Nadu. The issue goes beyond political disputes and has economic overtones.

Since 1995, the violence has acquired a new dimension. That year, the Thevars led an attack on Dalits in Kodaiyankulam, destroying their precious assets, including colour television sets.

The social churning that is on in the state, especially in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, was directly behind this attack. Suppressed for long, the Dalits and the Backwards have been basking in the avenues the reservation policy has created for them, especially in the field of government jobs. In the changing social format, the upper castes have been almost sidelined, and the battle for the spoils -- jobs and educational seats -- is between essentially the Thevars and Dalits.

While 50 per cent of the seats in colleges and government jobsare earmarked for the backward classes, 18 per cent are put aside for Scheduled Castes and 1 per cent for Scheduled Tribes. However, the number of Backwards who apply is so high that even 50 per cent seats prove meagre. In contrast, very few Dalits apply for the total 19 per cent quota kept for them. The result is that for every Backward candidate who is successful in getting an MBBS or an engineering seat, there are nine others who are rejected. And while an SC/ST graduate manages a good job in a bank or a government institution with relative ease, the Backward candidates have to generally jostle with one another for employment.

There have been instances when a Dalit with 45 per cent marks has got a seat, while a Backward with even 93 per cent has been left out. Consequently, the anger of the frustrated backward classes towards the seemingly more successful Dalits is growing. The Thevars have been known to hackle Dalits holding jobs in town returning to their villages.

Any altercation or even an act ofeve-teasing between the two groups quickly assumes caste overtones, and leaders of both groups are ready to fly at each other at the slightest provocation. With the Thevars and Dalits almost equal in number in most of the southern districts, a clash in one area spreads to other districts like wild fire.

There are no quick-fix solutions. The problem, in fact, has been complicated by the emergence of players like the Puthiya Tamizhagam (a pro-Dalit outfit launched by a doctor and an MLA, K. Krishnasamy) and the Thevar Peravai (which espouses the cause of Thevars).

The clashes in the past year or two are directly attributable to the high-voltage casteist campaign launched by these two outfits. The Puthiya Tamizhagam and the ruling DMK blame the opposition AIADMK for the violence and charge the latter's leaders with instigating local elements. Chief Minister Karunanidhi has himself held the AIADMK responsible for the clashes. But AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha denies the allegations and says the Government istrying to divert attention from its ``failures'' on the law and order front.

Presenting a Police Policy Note in the Assembly earlier this year, Karunanidhi said: ``The ill-feeling between the people of the two castes dates back to 1995, when there were actual confrontations between them in many parts of Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts. ``The incidents were less in 1996. After April 1997, there have been sporadic incidents of caste clashes.'' The violence in 1997 was largely sparked by the desecration of statues of prominent Thevar leader Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and Dr Ambedkar, who is revered by Dalits, by ``anti-social elements''. The naming of a division of the government transport corporation after veteran freedom fighter Sundaralingam (a Dalit) had also ignited passions.

Following this, the Karunanidhi Government had passed an order removing names of caste leaders and other prominent figures from titles of government transport corporations and districts. But this obviously hasn't helpedmuch, and the authorities are at a loss about what to do next.

A section in the Government favours a crackdown as armed gangs are now operating on both sides. The authorities have also posted armed guards around the statues of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and Dr Ambedkar throughout the state.

Another solution being offered is banning the Puthiya Tamizhagam and the Thevar Peravai from holding processions, rallies and conferences for at least a year in the southern districts.

A long-term answer could be increasing the number of seats available, particularly in professional courses, expanding job opportunities and finding ways of using the social justice formula to benefit the maximum.