Utterly shameful and inexcusable…
Some of you must have already come across this piece of news mentioning how Dalits were barred from entering the Jagannath Temple in Kendrapara which led to their subsequent conversion to Buddhism.
The issue has been simmering for a while now (see this “Priests to purify Orissa temple after Dalit entry” ) and there was mention of conversion in the past too: “Orissa: Dalits threaten to convert“.
So whats news?
The news is the conspicuous silence of the RSS, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and others on this matter.
The RSS news-site has no mention of this at all ; neither does this topic appear on the VHP main page. Of course there is the possibility that there was indeed a reaction or a press release but I have not seen one (I may be wrong - so please correct me, if you have come across any official reaction to this shameful practice)
Why is there not more of unequivocal condemnation of this practice? and why is not more being done to stop this? There can be no Bharat which alienates such a large section of our own - isn’t this obvious?
In conclusion, I would like to repeat what a division bench of Chief Justice Sujit Burman Roy and Justice M M Das from the Orissa High Court said last year:
“Every Hindu, irrespective of his caste, has a right to enter any Hindu temple which is open to other persons professing the same religion,”
Can we please enshrine this at the entrance of every temple across the country? or is it too much to ask?
