Of rights and wrongs

Henri Tiphagne is one of Tamil Nadu’s best known human rights activists. His Madurai-based NGO, People’s Watch, works for the dispossessed, dispensing legal support to those at the receiving end of caste discrimination, systemic violence and police atrocities.

So surprise and shock are inevitable when Tiphagne himself faces a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The founder and executive director of People’s Watch has been accused by a former Dalit employee of physical assault.

Tiphagne’s daughter Anitha and son-in-law Pradeep Solomon are charged with hitting the complainant and calling him by his caste name.

The alleged incident occurred on October 1, when People's Watch organised a night long protest in Madurai against the death penalty for Santhan, Perarivalan and Murgan, who are in jail for the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Vallarasu, an advocate formerly employed with People's Watch, registered a complaint against Tiphagne and his family under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The question being asked is: did Tiphagne actually commit the indiscretion or is he being framed by those who have reason to dislike his sustained human rights campaign?

Talking to TSI, Vallarasu stands by his allegation. He reveals that he quit People’s Watch owing to differences with Tiphagne’s son-in-law. “I was an assistant to Vincent, an advocate on the payrolls of People's Watch. So I went to the public protest conducted by the NGO.”

Says the plaintiff: “When I stopped my two-wheeler at the site of the October 1 protest, Pradeep kicked my bike over, damaging it. I went to Henri to complain. But he also grabbed me by my shirt collar and dragged me out of the venue. He asked a group of people to hit me and they rained blows on me.”

He adds: “Pradeep and Tiphagne's wife Cynthia and daughter Anitha hit me with chappals and called me by my caste name.“ Vallarasu, who received physical injuries in the assault, filed a complaint in the SS Colony police station. He is recuperating in Madurai Government Hospital.

Under the provisions of the Act, Tiphagne faces arrest, but he has taken recourse to legal means to ward it off. Vanchinathan, Vallarasu’s advocate, told TSI: "Tiphagne is trying to get anticipatory bail using his influence. But under this Act, there is no provision for anticipatory bail.”

On October 18, Tiphagne surrendered in the district sessions court, Madurai and is out on conditional bail.

Kathir, who runs a Madurai-based human rights outfit, Evidence, feels Tiphagne ought to have known better. “He dragged an ex-employee in public. His wife, daughter, son-in-law also abused the man. Henri, with his long years of experience in human rights issues, should have apologised to Vallarasu on the spot,” he says, Kathir adds: “The irony is that for the past 15 years, Tiphagne has been campaigning against anticipatory bail in SC/ST atrocities cases. But now he himself is trying to get it”.

When TSI contacted the People’s Watch chief, he alleged that he was a victim of a conspiracy. ''People must decide on the basis of my years of work whether I could have done this. Even now I have no anger against the complainant. I could sense a conspiracy behind this whole issue.

Somebody is trying to tarnish my image and stop my work,” he said.

Following this incident, Vincent, People's Watch advocate whose assistant Vallarasu was sacked, reveals: ''I have worked with People's Watch since its very inception 15 years ago.”

On October 1, Vincent participated in the People’s Watch protest. He says: “I heard that my junior advocate Vallarasu was being attacked. I rushed to the spot. I saw Henri, his wife and daughter returning from the entrance of the venue. On October 6, I received a letter from the organisation stating they were sacking me for dereliction of duty. But I was told by the other employees that I was removed for not stopping Vallarasu from filing the complaint. He is a lawyer. He need not be instigated to file a complaint as he himself is mature enough to act.”

Tiphagne’s supporters wonder why Vallarasu went to the protest vigil in the first place if he had such serious differences with People’s Watch.

Another former employee Annadurai offers an explanation. He says that everyone on the NGO’s mailing list received an email invitation. They were told that the protest was a public event and that everybody was welcome.

Says Annadurai: ''Tiphagne is a human rights defender. Doesn’t he realise even pushing a person at a public meeting can amount to a human rights violation?”

But there are many who claim that Tiphagne is being framed because he is a bugbear for the police. It is hard to imagine a man who has been fighting for the rights of Dalits would be guilty of the kind of act he is charged with.

No matter where the truth really lies, the ball is in Tiphagne’s court. As executive director of People’s Watch, the onus is on him to come clean. Until he does, he will remain under a cloud.