Human Rights Watch reported that the Dalits of the village have benefited from the influx of financial resources from family members working in Kuwait, Dubai and the United States, since 1980.
[1] The Parakirama Pandian Tank, built under British rule in the 1940s and subsequently renovated and restored by the Indian National Congress government in the 1960s, helped agriculture flourish and made Kodiyankulam prosper.
The violence left at least 18 people from both sides dead and crores of property damage apart from numerous government buses burnt or destroyed.
[3][6] In the presence of the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, 600 policemen raided Kodiyankulam at the instruction of Thevar officials[7] on August 31, 1995, destroying properties.
Televisions, tape recorders, fans, sewing, motorcycles, machines, tractors, farm equipment and food grain storages.
Observers said that the police accused the residents of this prosperous all-Dalit village of providing material and moral help to criminals in the region.
Since the Devendra Kula Vellalar Federation petitioned the High Court for a CBI investigation, Dalits from Kodiyankulam and other villages decided to boycott the commission.
The Puthiya Tamilagam, Dravidar Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Communist Parties opposed to the inquiry of the commission.
[10] The incident created widespread outrage, and villagers publicly protested against the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).