00 தலித்துகளுக்கு தடை : போபாலில் நடக்கும் சாதிவெறி கொடூரம் : யஜ்னாவில் உயர்சாதியினர் மட்டும் கலந்து கொள்ளமுடியும் : – வீடியோ
BHOPAL: Right under the nose of the government, upper caste people are allegedly preventing more than 200 Dalits from participating in a yajna at Kolukhedi locality on the outskirts of Bhopal.
The yajna started on May 12 and Dalits say they were threatened with dire consequences if they dared visit the holy site. A group of them who want to participate in the yajna approached the district administration for help but in vain.
The yajna started on May 12 and Dalits say they were threatened with dire consequences if they dared visit the holy site. A group of them who want to participate in the yajna approached the district administration for help but in vain.
The ‘Panch Kundaliya Shri Vishnu Mahayajna’ is being held near a temple in Kolukhedi in Berasia tehsil and will end on May 16, 2017. “The temple was initially situated within the village and our houses surrounded it. But some years ago, the area was submerged and we shifted our houses. We have tried to contact the Mahant Ji, who is organising the yajna. He agreed, but some influential people of the village are not allowing us to participate, saying we are of low caste,” alleged Mukesh Mongia, a villager. “We filed a complaint with the sub-divisional magistrate and talked to the district collector but nothing happened,” he alleged.
Another villager Pappu Silawat said, “When the planning for the yajna began a few months ago, the influential people who are organising it fixed a donation of Rs 1,000 on each family of the village. We were included. But later they refused to take donations from us or let us participate. They say we low are caste. Two hundred of us Dalits are being threatened.”
When TOI contacted Berasia SDM Rajiv Nandan Shrivastav, he refuted the Dalit villagers’ allegations. “We got the matter investigated at our level and there is no such discrimination. Some people are not being allowed as it is a private function of a community. How can anyone be forced to allow others in their private function?” Shrivastav said.
The Dalit villagers deny it is a public function. “If it was a private yajna, why were leaflets and posters distributed in 15 nearby villages to invite people?” asked Mongia. TOI has a copy of the poster for yajna that reads like an open invitation to a public function.
