Disappointed with the interim verdict of the Karnataka High Court that allowed ‘made snana’ to continue at Kukke Subramanya temple, the Karnataka State Backward Classes Awareness Forum will stage a one-day protest in the city on Tuesday.
The protest coincides with the start of the three-day ritual, where devotees will roll over plantain leaves containing food partaken by Brahmins at Kukke Subramanya.
Addressing presspersons here on Monday, K.S. Shivaramu, president of the forum, said the verdict was a setback for the struggle against the “irrational, inhumane” ritual. He believed the interim verdict was one among the many issued by courts that saw religious belief triumphing over scientific logic.
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He refused to get involved in the legal struggle, since if he became a respondent, he would have to give up organising awareness programmes and protests. However, he conceded that the large number of petitioners had "created confusion”, as each petitioner had proposed to the court a different alternative for the ritual.
The group will also protest against the State government for its inability to ban ‘pankthi beda’, which involves discrimination based on caste during the serving of food at the temple.
The one-day protest will be held outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here starting 10.30 a.m. and will see the involvement of Dalit groups, Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers and religious leaders.
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