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* (Pl see UPDATE below)Â 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?
Image courtesy: Wikipedia
UPDATE: I stand corrected. Pl read this comment. RSS has formally denounced barring of Dalits into temples
I have not come across any press release from the RSS and I am not surprised. I do not know how many of us are aware that the RSS, no longer has a spokesperson. Yes, Ram Madhav is no more the National Spokesperson for the RSS. There is no Media Centre or team to deal with such issues.
If some RSS leader were to read this article, he/she would comment that, “Dr Ji (Hedgevaar- Founder of the RSS) had stated that RSS is not an agent of the Hindu Society. This implies that it is not necessary that RSS takes a stand on each and every single issue to do with Hindus. It is for the the Hindu’s to fight their own battles. Yes, the RSS can support them. However,the RSS is not there to spoon feed the Hindu society. We want our society to be ‘svavlambi’ (self dependent). ”
I am a swayam sewak in Delhi and a Media Graduate from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. I disagree unreservedly with any such comments. Sometimes, I am surprised by the wisdom of our (RSS) leadership. I have failed to understand the basis of their decisions. I wish, within the RSS, character and dedication shake hands with information management skills or at least sometimes plain common sense. As rightly pointed out in this article, the public in general in India and also the swayam sewaks like myself would like to know what is the stand of the RSS/Sangh Parivaar on this issue ? Especially, when the RSS is accused of being a pro brahmin organisation. Though as a swayam sewak I can say that this is not true but the fact is that this is a widely held belief in the Indian academic and intellectual circles, that have an impact on “how and what the society thinks”. This is the time when the RSS can take a firm stand in favour of our dalit brothers and sisters. This is the time a single official press release, for a change, can make the media work in favour of the RSS.
Apparently, the RSS has dismantled the mechanism and channels of communication with the media. The RSS leadership has to say that they still have a “Prachaar Vibhag” something like an Information Centre but it is not obliged to interact or react to the mainstream media.
The RSS needs to realise that silence on this issue would be interpreted as their indifference towards Dalits. This would only discredit and dishonour the dedication and untiring efforts of syamsewaks working for vanvaasi’s and dalits.
Its high time the RSS leadership realised that time and again exposing their incapacity to lead would not just tarnish their image in the eyes of the general public, but worse, would result in the gradual and complete loss of trust the cadres have in them.
Shantanu, you have raised a very good point, many like me were concerned about it from long time. We are shunning away our own people. Where would they go?
If RSS and VHP is not active at this front than atleast temple authorities can do much more about it. I read somewhere that in Tirumala, priest of the Tirupati temple already taken initiative and had done some kind of puja in temple with Dalits. That shows preist has that capacity of changing the social fabric. If i find that link I may submit it later again here.
While it has to be condemned in no uncertain words that discrimination between castes is disgusting, lets not be hasty and jump to conclusions. I have personally seen in a temple town in Tamilnadu a striaghtforward and honest temple preist being victimised in a similar case. The preist had allegedly discovered the stematic looting of temple funds and usurping of temple land by the local MLA who was the so called honorary president of the temple committee. When the preist threatened to expose the MLA to the public, the MLA staged an event similar to this where it was made to appear as though low caste hindus were insulted and prevented by the preist from worshiping inside the temple. What followed was social unrest. Using this oppurtunity the MLAs men ransacked the preists home and the preist is still missing. No one knows what happened to him. The government doesnt care. The secular press or media dint bother to even cover this issue while they spend hours beaming sympathy for terroist afsal and his family.
The poor brahmins wife and kids were chased out of their homes and they are now living in another village. So much so for caste politics in tamilnadu.
Before we form our judgments on any press story its always advisable we get to the root of the issue cos casteism is always a very emotive issue and systematically the crooked indian politician has always manipulated this issue to his favour.
But how long can people be cheated?
Edward Luce in his book ‘In spite of the Gods: the strange rise of modern India’ suggests that when Hindus convert, they carry the caste system hierarchy with them into their adopted religion, making India uniquely a country with upper-class and lower-class Buddhists, Christians and Muslims etc.
I think the caste system is a major hindrance to India’s growth and social emancipation. Education seems to make no difference to people’s attitudes either, as I hear and cringe and sometimes use my frown-power to discourage the comments about SC/ ST/ OBC from my so-called upper class friends. Some of my best – and smartest – friends in college were OBC, who went on to make stellar careers in India and abroad. I grew up to believe all this did not matter and shame on those, to whom this remains the main lens to look at life..
Shefaly,
Your comments are true and its funny how even after conversion we hear about SC Christians and SC Muslims… even our wonderful politicians talk about this in Lok Sabha.
But a personal query, Im just surprised that you say its a shame that some use casteism as a lens to look at life but you mentioned some of your best friends were OBC friends.Why would anyone know what caste a friend comes from? A firend is a friend right? Does it matter which caste he comes from?
Please dont take offense to this question of mine. Kindly clarify.
Dr Surya, that is a valid question. Going to college in UP, as I did, sometimes you learn of things which you do not care about but which are discussed around you all the time. My friends’ OBC status upset many girls and boys in my batch but not me. People pointed fingers at them and accused them of abusing quota while ignoring their consistently good academic performance. Jokes were cracked at their expense and after I let my displeasure be known, they became fewer in my presence. They are my best friends even now and their life is a testament to the merit they had, notwithstanding what the ‘ullus’ in my class chose to focus on.
Shantanu-ji has highlighted a yawning absence of a coordinated effort by nationwide Hindu organisations in India to challenge the vestiges of casterism as discussed in this item on his blog.
Unless Hindu -minded ( and not secular) Hindus make this a priority amongst priorities so as to unite the Hindu nation of Bharat through all her social layers then further alienation looms within Hindu society itself.
As a Caribbean Hindu where the matter of caste is no longer such an issue I still remain concerned at the lack of initiative shown by the major pan-Hindu organisations in India around the matter of discrimination against the so-called lower castes.
This article highlights the pressing need for the the current struggle against casteism to be intensified in order to strenghten the already challenged social fabric of Bharat.
Indeed the RSS and VHP should be in the forefront of this struggle.
Vikram: That’s a very insightful comment. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
I am not surprised that there is no response from RSS – given what you have mentioned about there being no spokesperson/ press unit. In any case, “silence” is probably the WORST response as it leaves room for speculation.
Panam: thank you for your comment. Do send me the link if possible. I agree with you that the temple authorities can (and should) do more themselves…I sometimes dream of having a temple where all the rituals and the ceremonies will be conducted by Dalits and the Brahmins will be responsible for the supposedly “dirty” tasks like cleanliness, toilets etc…We need something like this to send a powerful and unequivocal signal. A country that is divide can never be strong and a society that discriminates within its own is doomed for extinction.
Dr Surya: You make a valid point and there may have been such instances. However, discrimination is – although a lot of times, below the surface, fairly common even today – if not in behaviour, at least in attitudes (a point made by Shefaly in her comment)
Shefaly: thanks for the comment and I completely agree that it’s a shame people still tend to “place” you based on which caste you belong to (this happened very recently with me and I was more disappointed than anything)
Sheila-ji: Thank you for your comment. You talk about the “yawning absence of a coordinated effort by nationwide Hindu organisations in India to challenge the vestiges of casterism” – what else is there left to say? Sometimes I feel that this should be priorty # 1 when it comes to the agenda for “Rashtra-Nirman”.
gail_abhishek: Thank you for your commen. I think the least we can all do is to draw people’s attention to this termite of “casteism” that is eating into the “already challenged social fabric of Bharat” – as you so eloquently put it. Hope we are able to draw some lessons from the experience of our fellow believers in Caribbean.
Thanks again to everyone for joining the debate…Please circulate this post as widely as possible. You can use this link:
http://hindudharma.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/shameful-and-inexcusable/
We need to draw the attention of more and more people to this: not just religious leaders, but also politicians, spiritual leaders (Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, others), groups like the RSS, VHP and of course everyone else who is concerned about Bharat and wants to see a strong and united India.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
shefaly ,
what you say makes a lot of sense and it is really good to have the viewpoint of someone who is living within the system . Since ,by living within the system and experiencing the changes forced upon the it, your perspective is more accurate and therefore more valid than that of those who live in a more casteless society.
Pleas ethough can you clarify your term upper class .Do you mean the upper caste? Surely the two terms are not synonomous ?
Thanks
Being a member of the Hindu diaspora in South Africa I have to put up with a lot of ignorant remarks and downright prejudice from the host society in which I live. South Africa is a highly Christianized and therefore intolerant society and I even have to argue with my Hindu relatives regarding their biased negative impression of their own motherland Bharat.
They of course get their information and form their opinions from the Western mainly Christian media. This issue of the Dalits being denied entry to temples India will be quickly broad cast in South Africa to show what a racist and unequal society India is because of its main faith tradition ,Hinduism.
By failing to publicly condemn such a backward approach the major Hindu orgainsations (RSS, VHP et al)ensure that the Hindu abroad is constantly caught on the back foot when trying to defend Hindu society against her aggressive detractors
Shantanu, this is the link for the news about tirupati temple. One of my family memeber commented on it (above) and asked me to give you a link. (from “The Hindu”, news paper).
Move to allow Dalits into temple hailed
Special Correspondent
TTD urged to take similar initiatives in more temples
TIRUPATI: The Chittoor district unit of the Kula Vivaksha Porata Samithi (KVPS) on Thursday welcomed the decision of the TTD to provide entry for Dalits into the Venkateswaraswamy temple located in the Vemuru village in the Tirupati (rural) mandal. The Samithi’s vice-president and the CPI(M) district secretary K. Murali also complimented the TTD for organising a Kalyanothsavam in the Dalitwada and also making the temple priests stay in the same colony.
In a statement, Mr. Murali particularly complimented TTD Board Chairman B. Karunakara Reddy for being instrumental in taking of the decision and urged him to take similar initiatives in respect of some more temples in the district which still practised discrimination against the Dalits.
He promised wholehearted support of the KVPS for all endeavours of the TTD in this regard. KVPS has celebrated the birth 99th anniversary of Bapu Jagjivan Ram by organising cycle rallies at five different places in the district. At Ambedkar Bhavan in Tirupati, the Andhra Pradesh SC Welfare Association remembered the former Deputy Prime Minister and Dalit leader for his yeomen services for the cause of the Dalits. Among the participants were the Tirupati legislator M. Venkatramana and P. Paramasivan, President of the Association.
—-It seems, not the same Balaji temple of Tirupati—
Kumarishakti: I agree upper class is not the same as upper caste, although if one were to factor in the economics of castes, these two would be broadly synonymous.
Indian: would this be the Tirupati temple, which I think turned away Indira Gandhi because she married a Parsi guy (whose religion by its structure never accepted her anyway)?
India is a huge country with over a billion people. The land area is bigger than the entire middle east and the population is more than the population of the all europe. In a huge populous country like ours we are bound to have racial and caste conflicts. But our media and press chooses to highlight only caste and communal clashes, bomb blasts and accidents. Every day the news channels beam 24 hours of sick disgusting demeaning news items. As Dolia mentioned its fashionable for so called educated Indians mostly abroad and aslo in India to ridicule whatever happens in India. When 2000 odd muslims died in Gujarat riots we created so much of a stink that every one from zambia to peurto rico started advising us how to treat our muslims. But when hindus are systematically dismembered and slaughtered in Kashmir no one bats an eye lid. For people to understand this its imperative to know how arab muslims treat muslims from the subcontinent as beggars or even worse in the middle east. Still these immigrant muslims lick arab bosses and mock and defame India, that gives them a high, doesnt it?
I know Im deviating from the topic. We have to criticise caste discrimination and communal riots in unequivocal terms. However like how Dolia meentions lets respect our motherland above all this abberations.
We have to correct these pathologies but we dont have to ridicule our motherland for this.
Dr Surya: I see the point you raise, about unconditional love. But unconditional love does not have to be blind love. For any improvement, it is important that we first recognise and admit our shortcomings to ourselves, the debate and identify alternatives and build consensus, then act upon it. Some will deviate from the purist approach described, but the best way to deal with ridicule is to ignore it, in my view. As they say in UP, if you throw a stone into cow-dung it will splatter all over you…
As for media focus on negativity: I am glad they report negative stuff overwhelmingly. That demonstrates that negative stuff is newsworthy. When good deeds become newsworthy, and harmony and peace are shown as rare occurrences, it would be a truly sad day for the world.
Hi Shefaly
At the moment I don’t know about this incident of turning away Indira Gandhi in Tirupati Temple, but if i come across such article in future I will confirm it here.
Thanks, Indian. This happened sometime in the late 1970s and I am not able to find references to it on-line either although I remember it clearly. I may be wrong about Tirupati Temple too but it was a South Indian temple of great significance…
This was the time, when she was cultivating Dhirendra Brahmachari and Chandra Swami to revamp her image in post-Emergency period I think…
Shefaly, Indian:
The temple may have been Shri Guruvayur…I will check.
Look at this piece of news:
http://sarvesamachar.com/click_frameset.php?ref_url=%2Findex.php%3F&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.organiser.org%2Fdynamic%2Fmodules.php%3Fname%3DContent%26pa%3Dshowpage%26pid%3D195%26page%3D18
what do you think about this? are this BJP’s and VHP’s have gone mad?
I don know what kind of guy is this hassan. But the pooja performed after his entry is ridiculous.
These people are curse on hinduism.
Mahesh Prasad,
True, Hindus should be tolerant. But as a Hindu or a Christian or a Jew (or any openly non-muslim person for that matter), try entering Mecca or Medina and then let us see whether you live to tell your story!
I don’t know, but just wonder if “an eye for an eye” is what will be required for us to survive as religion!
HP
1. Mandirs are for Hindus and devotees, and not for tourists (e.g. western tourists) and non-devotees. By devotee, I mean those who are not directly come from Hindu stream (by birth or adoption) but they practice Hindu dharma and philosophy (e.g. ISKCON followers, many Omkar Yoga followers, etc).
2. Mandirs sanctity must be maintained, at any cost. I have looked into pros and cons of not allowing non-Hindus into mandirs. One famous example is the Puri Jagganath mandir, they even didn’t allow Indira Gandhi in (as she married to a muslim or parsi whatever). And why shall she be allowed? She didn’t went there to worship. She went there during election time to deceive Hindus to garner their votes (as now Sonia Maino-Gandhi does). I fully support the mandir’s decision not to allow non-Hindus and non-devotees.
3. It easy to say mandirs must be open for all, who want to visit. But, we must remember mandirs are meant for worship, as devotees. Mandirs are not cinema hall or musiums for tourists or strangers. If we allow mandirs as tourist place or musiums, then the very pupose of mandirs as place of worship will be given away.
4. However, I don’t approve some of the actions like throwing out all food/prasadam (as Puri mandir thrown-out lakhs of rupees prasadam, sometime back), just someone non-hindu entered the mandir. They should be more reasonable, action must have scientific basis. Sanatan dharma is based on science and reasoning, unlike man-made religions.
Bharat
=====
Dear Sir,
This obtuse mentality is disgusting and has to change, if we are to see areally true, strong, and free Bharat.
Let me assure you that things are changing, but even small mishaps like this should be avoided.
Let me digress a bit before I come back to the subject of Dalits.
The exposure as a news article appears to be the work of the highly motivated Christian backed, Christian Educated thugs trying to present our way of life in a primitive way.
I WOULD LIKE TO THIS SAME NEWS THUG TO HIGHLIGHT WHY NO NON_ MUSLIM IS NOT PERMITTED INTO MECCA AND MEDINA, and NO TEMPLE IS PERMITTED IN THE VATICAN!!!
Coming to the aspect of Dalits, an effort has been initiated in Kerala by the UPPER CASTES to train all casted and creeds to become priests!
In my family temple in Tamilnadu all the priests all priests are OBC’s! During the annual festival ALL CASTES have to COMPULSORILY to DANCE AND SING, in front of the deity before the deity goes back into the temple after the festival is completed.
Indira Gandhi was not permitted to enter the precints of the Shri. Krishna temple in Guruvayyor as she did not profess the Hindu religion, and I agree that A TEMPLE is not a place for GARNERING VOTES or a PLACE FOR GAWKING!!
Rules are rules wherever one goes, but this Dalit act is not a rule but a manifestation of ruthless power which needs to be condemned in every way by all.
As Hindus I think we should start a BOYCOTT OF TEMPLES temples which prevent HINDU’s OF ANY CASTES to enter it. Then let us see what the high priests will do for his bread and butter. The explotation will stop and I am sure Lord Jaganatha will bless us Hindus who join this boycott more, as we have been instrumental in not DESTROYING this great way of life which one calls HINDUISM.
Regards,
vck
I have not seen your original article. My comments concern what I have read here in this piece.
I am delighted to read your forthright stand Hindu caste system, the need to reform. I commend
you for views championing the reform of Hinduism.
I wholeheartedly agree and commend your suggestion: “Every Hindu, irrespective of his caste,
has a right to enter any Hindu temple which is open to other persons
professing the same religion,”
I am so happy to learn the work you are doing to help reform Hinduism.
I hope to be in touch with you later. I am writing a book found the true
meaning of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Sudra in the Bhagavad Gita,
which are based on gunas. This for another time.
From Dalits enter Shiva temple for first time in 900 years:
The Dalits of Kisinapur village in Cuttack district took a big step on Wednesday. They walked inside the 900-year-old Chhateswar temple in their village, which has been out of bounds for them, and offered prayers to Lord Shiva. They were received at the temple gate by the priests and served ‘prasad’.
…Dr Biswajit Ray, spokesperson, Rastriya Yuva Sangathan (that organised the padayatra), said the Dalits felt good about this gesture from Brahmins. “There was no palpable tension. Both sections of society exchanged pleasantries on the occasion,” he said. Later, the villagers dined together in a grand community feast organised on the occasion.
The programme had been planned to build a bridge between Dalits and the upper castes. And that’s exactly what happened.
Bigotry has to go away. These stupid so called Kshatriyas and Brahmins who hide under the sarees of females need to be kicked around in butt like a football. People should go to Arya Samaj, read Sanskrit, understand and master Vedas, Upnishads and also join RSS
From A temple where upper castes bow to Dalits:
…Situated along the banks of the Yamuna river, the temple is sought after by the residents of Lakhna town for holding marriages, ‘mundan’ (tonsure ceremony of Hindu children) or other rituals particularly performed by Brahmins or members of the upper caste.
“It’s not just a temple. It’s a place that is an example of social equality,” said Umesh Dixit, who owns several garment shops in Lakhna town.
“People in Lakhna also approach the priests to name their babies as it is believed that names given by Dalit priests would bring good luck and prosperity to the children and their families,” he added.
According to locals, there’s a story behind the custom of Dalit priests. They say King Jaipal Singh, who got the temple constructed, made it mandatory that the priest of the temple would only be a Dalit.
“While the construction of the temple was under way, Jaipal Singh noticed a Dalit labourer, Chhotelal, was being assaulted by a group of upper caste people for touching the idol that was to be placed inside the temple,” said another resident Ram Raksha Pandey, who owns an eating joint in Lakhna.
“Jaipalji soon intervened in the matter and said only Chhotelal and his family would be taking care of the temple after its construction. Since then, the practice has been alive,” he added.
Adding this for the record…Apparently RSS has been vocal about this issue…I stand corrected.
Excerpt from RSS rips into ban on Dalits entering temples dt an 3, 2007, 07.32pm IST
NEW DELHI: Following up on its radical call last year to train and appoint Dalits as priests in Hindu temples, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has severely condemned the barring of Dalits from a temple in Orissa recently.
An year-end editorial in the Sangh mouthpiece Panchjanya termed as unfortunate the discriminatory attitude of temple authorities at the Jagannath temple in Kerdagarh saying it was “shameful that even in 2006 there are temples where Dalits are disallowed … Even God will desert the temple that Dalits cannot enter.”
…
The editorial further states that after the intervention of several senior religious leaders, Dalits have been allowed to enter the Kerdagarh temple. However, there are two paths leading up to the area from where devotees offer prayers – one for the “so-called upper castes” and one for Dalits. This, it says, is wrong and has to be amended forthwith. “There should be one path for all Hindus.”
The RSS has castigated what it repeatedly calls the “so-called uppers castes” for their discriminatory ways saying they are in fact of the “lowest levels” for doing so. “Those who are against allowing Dalits inside temples are against the Hindu Samaj”, it states emphatically. “There should be no Hindu temple which discriminates against people on the basis of caste.”
Further, it says, “those Dalits who are being provoked to change their views through such incidents have to be assured that crores of Hindus are with them.
Courtesy my friend Sanjay:
“One well, one temple and one crematorium” for all Hindus— that’s going to be the key strategy of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the next three years as it seeks to unite all those who profess the faith by ending caste discrimination and bringing back to the fold those it sees as having moved away. [source]