Angry protests open Shiva temple’s door for Dalits after 70 years

Bareilly: A Shiva temple that had remained out of bounds for Dalits for more than 70 years in Bareilly opened its doors to them on Saturday. A week ago, Dalits had complained to the police and administration after a Dalit youth was not allowed to join a Kanwar group because villagers feared he might then offer prayers with the group at the Shiva temple. Following the complaint, officials held a meeting of villagers of all communities and arrived at a mutual understanding, after which the temple was opened for Dalits as well.
The lone Shiva temple in Bhujiya village, which has a population of 2,500, has been out of bounds for 150 Dalits living here for decades. “Dalits were not allowed to enter this temple ever since it was made seven decades ago. A settlement was reached nearly 20 years ago but then the upper caste men here did not honour it. We did not bring it up since it would have further worsened our ties with them,” Chhatrapal Gautam, a farmer who until now visited a temple in the neighbouring Khamariya village, told TOI.
However, the issue came to a boil once again this week when a Dalit youth, Vinod Kumar, who had enrolled himself as a Kanwariya was asked to leave the group by upper caste participants who feared that he might at the end of the yatra enter the temple to offer water to Shiva. “This time we put our foot down,” said Dharamveer Sagar, another Dalit in the village. When Kumar was thrown out of the group, the Dalits lodged a strong protest with the district administration.
SP (rural areas) Yamuna Prasad said, “The Dalit community had complained that a youth was not allowed to a join a Kanwar group because of his caste. Kanwars claimed that the youth did not follow the mandatory religious tradition and, therefore, was asked to leave this group. While dealing with the issue, we learned that local Dalits were not allowed to enter a Shiva temple here for decades. This was for the first time when the matter was brought to our knowledge. We held a meeting of village elders belonging to all castes and reached an agreement after lengthy discussions.”
On Saturday morning, men and women belonging to the Dalit community entered the temple and offered water and flowers to the deity. “As it is our temple now, we will also participate in taking care of it. I cleaned the premises which had been dirtied after Friday’s rain,” said Chet Ram, a farmer.
Kanchan Lal, who has been worshipping at the Shiva temple since his childhood, said, “People belonging to the Dalit community entered this temple for the first time following a settlement between us. We have no objection now, as police made us realise that doors of temple should be open for all.”
Earlier in June, neighbouring Uttarakhand’s Jaunsar Bawar region had shot to infamy after Dalits protested against the age-old practice of keeping them out of the temples there. BJP MP Tarun Vijay led the protest which resulted in a backlash from upper caste men, in which the MP and several others were injured. After much persuasion by the administration and local police, a thaw was witnessed when the palanquin of two gods were finally kept in the house of a Dalit in Chamdi village of Dehradun. The belief in the area is that if anyone’s wish comes true, he can request the head of a temple committee to “invite the gods to his house.”

Source: The Times of India