'Upper-caste groups lure Dalits into 'Madae Snana''

In the backdrop of the row over Madae Snana, liberals are alleging that it is yet another ploy by the upper-caste communities, at the cost of the Dalits, to stay in power in the society.

KL Ashok, state secretary of Karnataka Komu Souharda Vedike, said Madae Snana is a trick devised by the upper-caste Hindus, mainly Brahmins, to keep caste-based superiority alive.

Ashok said the Dalits practice Madae Snana upon the instigation of Brahmins. He said innocent Dalits and backward community people believe that by rolling on the leftover food, their diseases and dermatological disorders can be cured. He said the idea is "nothing but a lie and a conspiracy" to depict upper-caste communities as the God's chosen ones, creatures so supreme that even the food they leave has curative powers. "I am yet to see one Brahmin or upper-class Hindu person performing Madae Snana," he said.

Ashok said the Komu Souharda Vedike and 43 other organisations would hold a protest at Freedom Park on Monday.

They will inform the populace that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-government is giving protection to the people who force this evil practice on the Dalits and backward classes.Vatal Nagaraj, president of Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, rolls on banana leaves to register his protest against the practice of Madae Snana, in Bangalore on Friday.