DPI demands right to enter into temples for Dalits

Chennai, July 17 (UNI) Members of the Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) staged a slogan shouting demonstration here today, demanding rights for the Dalits to enter all temples.

Addressing a gathering, DPI General Secretary Thol Thirumavalavan, who led the demonstration, said even after 60 years of independence, the Dalits were denied entry in most of the temples, particularly in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu.

He said it was ''atrocious'' that the Dalits were denied entry into the temples administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endownment (HR and CE) Department.

It was not only ''condemnable'', but also ''contradictory'' to the State Government's recent ordinance that people from all communities could become the temple priests, he alleged.

Since the Dalits were denied entry into the temples, the basic concept of the government's ordinance itself was questionable, he said.

Pointing out that the Dalits were denied entry into the Shri Throwpathi Amman temple in Salem city, run by the HR and CE Department for the last 40 years, the DPI leader said he would organise a ''temple entry agitation'' in front of the temple on August 6 and the protestors would forcibly enter the Amman temple.

He appealed to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to intervene on the denial of the entry issue and enact a Special Act to allow the entry of Dalits into the temples statutory to protect their fundamental rights.

In a statement, DPI's State spokesperson Vanni Arasu said similar demonstrations were also held in different parts of the state, including all the district headquarters.

UNI