The dalits' entry into the village temple of Goddess Meldi Ma was met with severity by the 'upper' caste villagers who restricted entry of over 13 dalit families from paying obeisance to the deity.
"We have booked 18 people including the husband of the village sarpanch and the deputy sarpanch of Rampur village in Surendranagar district under various section of Atrocities Act for discriminating on basis of caste." - This is what deputy superintendent of police of SC/ST cell, PM Bhalia, revealed on Tuesday, adding that the investigation of the case is over and cops have arrested all the accused on Tuesday morning.
Though there is hardly anything new in the sordid tale of casteism that blotches the democracy's name, it is particularly unnerving that such an event had taken place on the eve of the country's 61st Republic Day celebration. Surendranagar police arrested 18 people for preventing dalits from entering a temple.
The dalits' entry into the village temple of Goddess Meldi Ma was met with severity by the 'upper' caste villagers who restricted entry of over 13 dalit families from paying obeisance to the deity. The incident was reported with the police with the help of Navsarjan trust, an NGO working for the marginalised people. Matters turned sour when some dalit families wanted to enter the village temple.
"We were not allowed to sit with others and were always abused by the members of upper castes. We were also not let inside the temple," alleged Purushottam Chawda, a member of the backward community who lodged a complaint against the 18 people. "In our absence, other villagers gathered near the temple and passed a resolution that all villagers should boycott us. They were asked to swear by the Goddess and promise that they would not keep any relations with us," Chawda further said, adding that people caught violating the diktat were threatened to be fined of Rs5,000 for insulting the Goddess.
Incidentally, though Khoda Koli, the husband of sarpanch Jasuben Koli and the deputy sarpanch Samant Koli were arrested, they were later released on bail.
"We have asked members of both the communities to maintain peace and harmony. We will also be maintaining vigil in the area," Bhalia further said.
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