Discrimination Over Temple Rights Not New, claim Dalits
Even as the stalemate continues over temple ritual rights claimed by the Dalits of Pazhag Kallimedu, a remote coastal hamlet near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district, the incident had brought to limelight yet another case of discrimination against Dalits over the years.
Although the current issue is confined to the right of hosting mandagapadi (sponsoring a day’s event) of Sri Badrakaliamman temple located on a piece of land at Kallimedu, allegations of discrimination had surfaced in 2013 and before. It was alleged that the Dalits were denied entry into the temple, a charge the temple authorities had stoutly denied.
Problems began after the introduction of procession of “utsavar” (processional deity) in 2013 during the annual temple festival conducted in the last week of Tamil month of Aadi.
Aggrieved Dalits of Pazhag Kallilmedu had staged protests over the failure of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR and CE) officials to bring the ‘utsavar’ to their hamlet in 2014. It was alleged that the “utsavar” was not taken to the Pazhag Kallimedu, where about 200 Dalits families lived. A cross-section of Dalits said that the 2014 humiliation had forced a section of them to issue a threat that they would embrace Islam if the authorities failed to give the rights of hosting a mandagapadinow.
“We were really humiliated and discriminated against by the acts of officials and other castes. We were waiting to perform puja at our doorstep for the deity and were waiting for the procession. But the utsavar was not brought to our area,” says S. Kaliappan, a Dalit.
According to temple authorities, the kumbabishekam of Sri Badrakaliamman temple, which was about 800 years old, was performed for the first time in 1957 by the Kallimedu village residents. It was brought under the control of the HR and CE in 1976. Since then, the annual festival had been conducted for five days in the last week of Aadi. Of the five days, the temple administration sponsored the events of two days. Non-Dalits living in Kallimedu West, Kallimedu East, and the residents of neighbouring Thamaraipulam host mandagapadi for the remaining three days. However, there is no mandagapadifor Dalits, who constitute about 50 per cent of the Kallimedu revenue panchayat.
Meanwhile, HR&CE Department authorities began another round of talks with the Dalits and other castes on the temple premises on Thursday.
“The current protest is forced on us. It is time to end discrimination against Dalits. We should be allowed to host mandagapadi for a day. The question of withdrawing the threat call to convert would depend on the outcome of talks. However, we are optimistic,” K. Tamil Selvam, one among those spearheading the campaign, told The Hindu .
Dalits have long been barred from certain Temples and worship services. This element of discrimination stops them from educating themselves about religion, which many use in attempt to justify to Caste system. By not being allowed into Temple, the Dalits have an increasingly difficult time understanding the system in which they exist, which makes it more difficult for them to argue against the status quo. The Hindu
Link to Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/discrimination-over-temple-rights-not-new-claim-dalits/article8914191.ece
The National Campaign Against Torture (NCAT) in its “India: Annual Report on Torture 2019” released on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture stated that a total of 1,731 persons died in custody during 2019 i.e. deaths of about five persons daily. These included 1,606 deaths in judicial custody and 125 deaths in police custody.
Torture is perpetrated to extract confession or bribes and torture methods used in 2019 included hammering iron nails in the body (Bihar), applying roller on legs and burning (Jammu & Kashmir), ‘falanga’ wherein the soles of the feet are beaten (Kerala), stretching legs apart in opposite side (Kerala), hitting in private parts (Haryana), electric shock (Punjab and Uttar Pradesh), pouring petrol in private parts (Uttar Pradesh), applying chilly power in private parts (Kerala) beating while being hand-cuffed (Kerala), pricking needle into body (3-Year-old minor in Tamil Nadu), branding with hot iron rod (3-Year-old minor in Tamil Nadu), beating after stripping (Haryana and Assam), urinating in mouth (Uttar Pradesh), inserting hard blunt object into anus (Bihar), beating after hanging upside down with hands and legs tied (Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh), forcing to perform oral sex (Gujarat), pressing finger nails with pliers (Assam), beating with iron rods after victim is suspended between two tables with both hands and legs tied (Madhya Pradesh), forced to do Murga pose or stress position (Haryana), and kicking in belly of pregnant woman (Assam).
Indian police officers in the town of Nagina chased a group of Muslim teenagers into an empty house. They grabbed them and took them to a makeshift jail. And then, the boys and community leaders said, the officers tortured them.
Four of the boys, who ranged in age from 13 to 17, said that police officers used wooden canes to beat them and threatened to kill them.
Indian Police officers over the course of 30 hours terrorized them.
According to two of the boys, the officers laughed during beatings, saying, “You will die in this prison.”
More accounts are emerging of abuse meted out by police officers.
Almost all the violence has been directed toward Muslim residents. More people — at least 19 — have been killed!
Witnesses said that police officers opened fire on demonstrators with live ammunition, broke into houses and stole money, and threatened to rape women.
Police officers were encouraged by their superiors to kill protesters.
The Indian police have become a lynch mob! Inidan police officers having been given the green light by senior officials to use harsh measures against Muslims.
A 20-year-old Dalit man was allegedly burnt alive over his relationship with a woman from another caste, the killing causing his mother to die of shock.
The victim was beaten up, kept hostage in a house and set ablaze.
Locals rushed to the spot on hearing his cries and took him to a local hospital. He was referred to a Lucknow hospital but succumbed to injuries on the way.
India : Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh Telangana2018-09-20
A father attacked his 20-year-old daughter and her newlywed husband in the heart of the city on Wednesday, chopping off her left forearm and slashing her jaw. The incident comes days after a Dalit youth was mercilessly murdered in front his pregnant wife in Nalgonda district.
Police said the father was upset over the inter-caste marriage — the woman an OBC (Other Backward Class), her husband, B Sandeep (22), a Dalit. Sandeep and Madhavi Chary, in a relationship for five years, secretly got married on September 12, despite stiff opposition from her father.
Madhavi was left with a 12-inch gash on her neck and jawline and her left forearm barely hung by the skin. She was in a 10-hour surgery at the time of going to print. Sandeep, in another hospital, received 10 stitches to close the deep wound at the angle of his mouth; the attending doctors said he was in deep shock.
