http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-04/patna/29735724_1_dalits-chief-secretary-temple
SC panel summons Orissa DGP, chief secy
Faizan Ahmad, TNN Jul 4, 2011, 12.10am IST
PATNA: The National Commission for Scheduled Caste has summoned the
DGP and chief secretary of Orissa on July 18 to explain the position
regarding the ban on the entry of dalits into certain temples in that
state and what the government is doing to eliminate this age-old
discrimination.
This was disclosed by commission chairman P L Punia here on Sunday.
Ironically, he himself was allegedly denied entry into a temple at
Ranapada in Orissa's Puri district on June 25. Addressing the media
here, Punia, who is also an MP from Barabanki (UP), narrated the
incident when queried about the treatment meted out to him.
Admitting that dalits are not allowed to enter the temples' vicinity,
he said on getting such complaints he personally went there for
verification. "On Ranapada temple premises there is a barricade where
a board is fixed, saying: "Dalits not allowed beyond this and they can
pray from this point."
"I along with some other Scheduled Caste members went there and
declared we are dalits and going inside the temple to offer prayers to
the deity. Nobody objected. Then I removed the barricade and went
ahead. There was an iron railing and the room there was locked," Punia
said.
Neither denying nor confirming reports about the denial of entry
inside the temple, Punia, a retired IAS officer of UP cadre, said,
"Dalits are being stopped and they are subjected to this
discrimination." He said similar practice is rampant at several
temples in Orissa. "To know the government's version about what
arrangements have been made to stop this discrimination, the
commission has decided to hold a hearing and the DGP and the chief
secretary have been asked to appear," Punia said.
He asserted that the commission has powers to take action in such
cases. He recalled that when a secretary-level official of the Union
ministry of social welfare did not turn up for hearing of the
commission, a warrant of arrest was issued and the official was
arrested and brought before the commission.
The dalit society, however, took the ugly incident as a humiliation of
the SC commission chairman. Dalit ideologue and retired home secretary
of Bihar A K Biswas said, "Punia was ill-advised to go to the temple,
thereby inviting indignity upon himself. By his misadventure, the
chairman has subjected himself to untouchability and humiliation."
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