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Dalits enter temple amid tension

Mohammed Iqbal

SULIA (RAJASTHAN): Peaceful entry of hundreds of Dalits into the ancient Chawanda Mata temple here on Tuesday could not hide complicity of the Administration and the police with the dominant Gujjar caste in persecution of Dalit families through insinuations, slapping of false charges and denial of equal rights.

Gujjars of the village, situated 260 km from Jaipur, stayed away from the Dalit Adivasi Adhikar Sammelan organised on the temple premises and virtually boycotted the Dalits' entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Policemen were deployed in large numbers in the temple premises.

Though the presence of a large number of civil rights activists, including Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy, and media persons from Jaipur gave confidence to the local Dalits to defy restrictions imposed by the Gujjars, tension in the atmosphere was palpable with a question mark raised over the stance of the Gujjars and higher castes on the issue.

The insinuation that Dalits were demanding a share in the 26-bigha agricultural land of the temple and offerings made to the deity was a deliberate ploy to shift attention from assertion of rights by Dalits to enter the temple and offer prayers as equal members of the Hindu community.

"We do not want a single inch of the land or a single paisa from the offerings. Ours is a struggle for self-respect,'' said Bhanwar Meghwanshi, the young convenor of Dalit Adivasi Adhikar Abhiyan.

He pointed out that Gujjar and Dalit priests had been worshipping Goddess Chawanda in the temple as a tradition, which was abruptly stopped for no reason other than hatred for Dalits. The Gujjar priest, Mewa Ram, accompanied by youngsters from his community allegedly thrashed the 80-year-old Dalit priest Hazari Balai during the Navratra festivities on October 1 and declared a ban on the entry of Dalits into the temple. The police registered an FIR after nine days following a great deal of persuasion, but have not arrested any of the 12 accused.

The Dalits' zeal to get justice could not be defeated by ploys such as registration of false cases against them alleging attempts to steal the offerings and clothes draped on the idol and violating peace. The Administration then tried to evolve a compromise without giving Dalits the right to enter the sanctum sanctorum.

State Rural Development Minister Kalulal Gujjar, who is an MLA from neighbouring Mandal in Bhilwara district, was the target of attack at the public meeting attended by about 2,000 Dalits after entry into the temple. Mr. Gujjar brought members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's Scheduled Caste Morcha from other villages to Sulia on November 26 and "staged a drama'' of taking them inside the temple.

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