DALITS MAKE HISTORY ENTERING TN TEMPLE

For the first time in 100 years, Dalits of Chettipulam village, in Tamil Nadu stepped inside the local Shiva temple on October 27, in a historic moment brought about by government and political intervention. Escorted by revenue and police officers, nearly 70 Dalits of the village situated near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district entered the century-old Kamatchi Amman Sametha Ekambareswarar Temple at around 11 A.M and offered prayers for 25 minutes. Dressed in their best, women brought flowers and other offerings. A group of non-Dalits, including panchayat president V Manimaran, also accompanied the Dalits. District collector C Munianathan himself distributed prasad to the Dalits after the prayers. “It is a historic day for us. For decades, we were barred from entering the temple. All we could do for generations was to stand 10 feet away from the temple entrance and offer prayers,” said Nandan alias N Natarajan, a Dalit labourer. He and other Dalits were greeted by non-Dalits inside the temple. The Dalits had earlier made three attempts to enter the temple but failed. On September 30, they found it locked. The next day they were arrested when they tried to break the lock. On October 14, when Nagapattinam revenue divisional officer Rajendran led the Dalits towards the temple, violence broke out as non-Dalits started pelting stones. A tripartite meeting involving non-Dalits, Dalits and government officials was held on October 26. It was decided there that the Dalits would be taken into the temple on October 27.