MYSURU: Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, who was in the forefront for Ram Mandir movement at Ayodhya, also took the lead against social discrimination of Dalits and worked for bringing them into the mainstream of Hindu society. His efforts continued till his last days.
Unfortunately, his concern for the Dalits and his ground work did not get much attention and instead drew criticism from dalit writers and rationalists. Dalits held protests over Pankti Bheda, a practice where members of the upper and the lower castes sit in separate halls for meals.But the seer in the saffron robes did not give up and reached out to dalits with his visits to their colonies and participated in pujas in their houses here.
He made Mysuru his Karmabhoomi as during Chaturmasya made it a point to visit Dalit families in Manjunathpura, Kaliashpuram and other localities over the years.The seer, upset over the attack on dalits in Chamarajnagar village, went on a fast with his disciples in Krishna Mutt.
When many criticised him for not having food in the houses of dalit families, he had clarified since he was observing Chaturmasya (holy four months), he could not partake food offered by anyone. He would say, “I’ve always fought for equality and stood with the Dalits at all times.”
‘Seer treated all religions equally’
Udupi: Seer Sri Vishwesha Theertha, who had employed a Muslim man — Mohammed Arif — as his driver, was known to treat people from all religions as equals, despite being pro-Hindu. Many were surprised that he had hired Arif, but the latter went onto to work for the seer for over a year. “The seer asked me whether I faced any issues working for him, and asked me to concentrate on the job and not to worry about anything else. I used to walk inside the mutt in Udupi freely. One day, while driving around, he asked me whether I am done with namaz. When I said I will do it later, he told me not forget my religious duties amid a busy schedule,’’ Arif recalled, adding, “The seer respected all religions.’’