Author: Alok Chamaria
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 13, 2003
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=230291
The BJP will conduct a survey of
such temples and other religious places in the state where Dalits are denied
entry for offering prayers or prasad. And after identifying such temples
and other religious places, an agitation will be launched for Dalits’ entry
into them.
An announcement to this effect
was made by leader of the opposition in the state assembly Sushil Kumar
Modi on Sunday at Bahera village of Kaimur district, where a Dalit was
shot dead when he tried to offer prayers and prasad to the goddess during
the Durga Puja on October 4, defying the long-standing ban imposed by upper
castes.
Modi promised that without caring
for the political implications of his decision, he would himself lead the
agitation for Dalits’ entry into the religious places. He called upon all
the political parties to join the fight against such social evils.
The BJP leader lauded The Times
of India for breaking the news of the incident. He criticised other mediapersons
in Kaimur for “failing to highlight the incident”. He urged mediapersons
to see to it that the case is not hushed up by the vested interests.
He criticised the RJD-led government,
alleging that while the “de facto chief minister” Laloo Prasad Yadav claims
that Dalits and backwards in the state have been given respect during his
13-year rule, atrocities on Dalits have been increasing day by day. He
also criticised the local administration for its “partiality” in the whole
episode.
He claimed that the DM and SP of
Kaimur visited the spot nine days after the incident when the matter was
raised before the visiting chairman of the SC-ST Commission in Patna. Modi
said the chairman of the commission assured him that he would send a fact-finding
team to Bahera. He demanded setting up of a police picket in the village.
He threatened to launch an agitation
if the accused are not arrested within a week. He said he would write to
the Bihar DGP and his Jharkhand counterpart for action against the three
named accused police personnel, adding that the accused police personnel
are trying to show that they were on duty at their respective place of
posting on that day.
Modi shared the dais with the leaders
of CPI(M-L), CPM and BSP, who jointly organised a protest rally in the
village on Sunday.
In what appears to be a damage
control exercise, Kaimur’s DM Mihir Kumar Singh and SP G S Gangwar visited
the village nine days after the incident. They went into the temple of
Lord Shiv with the Dalits of the village and performed hawan and puja.
The DM also met the family members
of the slain Dalit and announced that the family would be given Rs 2 lakh.
Sources said the DM and SP were forced to visit the village when the SC-ST
Commission chairman, on the representation of opposition leaders, asked
chief minister Rabri Devi about the incident.
After reaching the village, the
DM persuaded the upper caste people to accompany them on the occasion of
Dalits’ entry into the temple.
