http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Dalits-barred-entry-into-temple-tension-in-Tirupur-village/articleshow/6978482.cms
Dalits barred entry into temple, tension in Tirupur village
Nandhu Sundaram, TNN, Nov 24, 2010, 06.26am IST
COIMBATORE: Tension gripped the Uthamapalayam village in Tirupur
district in western Tamil Nadu after dalits were allegedly barred from
entering a Hindu temple built by non-dalits.
Behind the serene facade of Uthamapalayam, a village about 12km from
Kangeyam town, a row has been simmering for the last one week between
250 dalits and 1,500 non-dalits. The trouble erupted on November 21
when the dominant community of Gounders, besides Mudaliars and
Chettiars, decided to perform the kumbabhishekam of the new Mariamman
temple they had built. As dalits were refused entry into the new
temple, they blocked the roads and staged protests. The revenue
divisional officer (RDO) called a meeting of the leaders of the
different communities, but the talks failed. Prohibitory orders have
been clamped in the village and police are standing guard at the
temple site.
Dalits claimed that the upper castes' had refused to even sit along
with them during the talks with the RDO. The non-dalits allegedly
constructed the new temple as dalits were allowed entry into the old
temple which was being administered by the HR&CE department in January
2005. The dalits alleges that the upper caste people took away the
jewels of the deities and funds of the old temple to form a new
Mariamman Trust and build the new temple.
"An FIR has been filed against both parties (dalits and non-dalits)
and a curfew has been imposed under section 145 of the CrPC to prevent
further tension," said revenue divisional officer (RDO) Akbar Ali.
"The Mariamman Trust is illegal because the old temple is under the
HR&CE department. There should be only one Mariamman temple for this
village and both the dalits and the upper castes should be allowed to
worship there," says S Karuppiah,the convenor of the temple entry
movement. But the non-dalits are unrelenting. "Who are they to say
there cannot be two temples in Uthamapalayam," asks 57-year-old V
Sivasubramani, a land-owning Gounder, whose father is a temple
trustee.
The old temple, which has stood in Uthamapalayam for 600 years,
meanwhile, has been abandoned by everyone in the village. "No one
wants to worship there anymore. The priest never comes. He is in the
control of the upper castes," says P Muthu, a dalit labourer, who was
part of the temple entry movement.
After series of meetings to bring about peace between the two groups
failed, the RDO ordered an inquiry on December 2. Non-dalits claim
that the temple is on nearly two acres of patta land owned by them
and, therefore, they have the right to keep dalits out. But dalits
counter that the trust which owns the land is a public body and they
have the right to enter the temple.
Dalits are unable to offer worship in many temples across Tamil Nadu
even 86 years after rationalist leader EV Ramasamy led a revolutionary
movement to take Dalits into Hindu shrines. Dalit leaders and Left
party functionaries have launched a state-wide movement to throw open
the temples which are shut for the Dalits.
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