Dalits, CPI(M) activists defy ban, enter temple

Tirupati, Apr 14 (UNI) Hundreds of Dalits, along with activists of the CPI(M) and Kula Vivaksha Porata Samithi (KVPS) today forcefully entered the Sri Ram temple at Vemuru village near here to protest against the ban on their entry in the temple.

For the last five years, the temple banned the entry of Dalits, following clashes between them and the upper caste people.

Later talking to reporters, CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh Secretary B V Rahavulu and KVPS Leader Anajaiah said the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam's (TTD) recent ''Dalit Govinda'' programme organised at Vemuru failed to secure entry for the dalits into the temple.

Today's forceful entry was to restore the Constitutional rights of the dalits, they added.

UNI