New Delhi, May 21 (HT) : A mob of upper-caste villagers in Uttarakhand’s Chakrata region injured BJP parliamentarian Tarun Vijay and some Dalit leaders on Friday afternoon for allegedly going into a temple where the entry of backward caste people is prohibited.
Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay, local Dalit activist Daulat Kunwar and other members of the community were hit with stones while coming out of the Silgur Devta temple in the remote Punah village – around 180 kilometres from state capital Dehradun.
“The (upper caste) villagers of a nearby area had organised a bhandara (feast in honour of local god). The irritated villagers pelted stones when they saw the Dalit crowd coming out of temple and injured all of them,” a police official said.
Police said the injured MP was rushed to a nearby military hospital as the irate crowd damaged his car and threw it into a gorge.
The entry into Silgur Devta temple was the start of a campaign by the Dalit community in the state against a centuries-old tradition that forbids them from entering and worshipping at 349 temples of the hill state’s Jaunsar-Bhabar region.
Dalit leaders have said they will forcibly enter the temples, especially five popular shrines in the Chakrata region. The BJP MP who is retiring from the Rajya Sabha next month was backing the campaign.
Dubbed the holiest land for Hindus, the Himalayan state is studded with thousands of temples, many of which have been off-limits for backward-caste people. Many Dalit villagers HT spoke to last week expressed fear of an upper-caste backlash to the temple entry campaign.
The incident comes amid a nationwide debate on caste-based discrimination following the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad earlier this year.
Caste-centric discrimination, including untouchability, was banned in India in 1955, but centuries-old feudal attitudes persist in many parts of the country and Dalit people, who represent 16% of the country’s population, still face prejudice. They are sometimes beaten or killed for using a well or worshipping at a temple.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was stopped at the gates of the Jagannath temple in Puri as she was deemed an outcaste for marrying a non-Hindu.
In 2014, a temple in Bihar’s Madhubani district was “purified” — the shrine cleaned and its idols washed — after a visit by then chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a member of the Musahar community.
Last year, a 90-year-old Dalit man was brutally attacked with an axe and set on fire for trying to enter a temple at Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Comment on this article
Vincent Rodrigues, Frazer Town,B'lore
Sun, May 22 2016This is nothing but the political gimmick and vote bank politics
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SMR, karkala
Sat, May 21 2016During PM Modi's 'Good governance' even BJP MP is also not safe.
The party wanted us to believe in 'Gujarat Model'.These days even Police horse Shaktimaan is not safe what about common man?
Jai Hind
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alfria, mumbai
Sat, May 21 2016Beating of BJP MP now this is what I call as intolerance, But who hit the bjp MP, it is the bjp supporters who did it to get into the limelight.
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Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai
Sat, May 21 2016I wonder what all is going to happen in the remaining three years ...
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Shankar, Mangalore
Sat, May 21 2016At least the cast caste based discrimination will be eradicated to certain extent. By the next term, we will see uniform civil code too.
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Sujith Nayak, Kudla / AUH
Sat, May 21 2016@Jossey..keep wondering...heheheh
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N.M, Mangalore
Sat, May 21 2016after dividing people on basis of religion now sanskari people will divide people on basis of caste.
Sabka saath but only top class ka vikaas?
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A. S. Mathew, U.S.A.
Sat, May 21 2016BJP's Dalit leader worship for vote bank will be challenged by the high caste controlled BJP/RSS union later on.
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arm, ksa
Sat, May 21 2016Moun Modji Apene Manke Bath Be Sunayee. Sabka Sath Kaha Tak.
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Stephen, Brahmavar
Sat, May 21 2016We needed Nana Patekar there to enact that Hindu-Muslim ka khoon scene from his movie. :)
Mix blood of upper caste and dalit and ask them to identify which blood belongs to who ??!! How about that for narrow minded people in our societies??
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sri, Karkala
Sat, May 21 2016This is very sad...
Dalits should build their own temples by collecting donations instead of making forceful entries.
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Joseph F. Gonsalves, Bannur, Puttur / Mangalore
Sat, May 21 2016Dear sri, Karkala,
Are not Dalits Human beings.
Animal Cows are more important than the Dalits???!!!
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