Kizhavenmani (also spelled Kilvenmani and Keezhvenmani) is a village in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu state in India. The village is about 25 km from the district headquarters town of Nagapattinam. It is in the fertile river Cauvery Delta, known for its agrarian economy.
The village made headlines in 1968 when 44 Dalits were burnt alive by local feudal lords after being locked in a hut. The incident is known as the Kilvenmani massacre. Every year the massacre is commemorated by left wing and Dalit groups as "Venmani Martyrs Day". A large memorial was erected by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The Kilvenmani massacre (or Keezhvenmani massacre) was an incident in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India on 25 December 1968 in which a group of around 44 people, the families of striking Dalit village labourers, were murdered by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords. The chief accused was Gopalakrishnan Naidu.It became a notable event in left wing political campaigns of the time and in Dravidianist ideology. The incident helped to initiate large-scale changes in the local rural economy, engendering a massive redistribution of land in the region.
1968Dec, 25
Kilvenmani massacre: Forty-four Dalits (untouchables) are burnt to death in Kizhavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, a retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit laborers.
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Events on 1968
- 30Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. - 31Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. - 29Apr
Counterculture of the 1960s
The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with some of its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. - 14Oct
U.S. Marine Corps
Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps will send about 24,000 soldiers and Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there. - 20Oct
Jacqueline Kennedy
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.