TIRUNELVELI: A section of villagers belonging to the scheduled caste (SC) near Radhapuram pasted wall-posters in the region on Wednesday, stating that they will boycott the ensuing Lok Sabha polls to protest over denial of permission to conduct the Nithya Kalyani Ambal temple festival, when the temple flag remains hoisted atop the shrine.
According to the SC residents of 12 villages, including Ilaiyanayinarkulam, Kariyakulam, Neduvaali, Pattarkulam, Thiruma Nagar and Pappankulam, they are allowed to hold the temple festival only after the temple flag gets lowered, and the practice has been continuing for the past 38 years.
The 10-day festival of the Nithya Kalyani Ambal temple, administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR & CE) department, is conducted by various communities (BC, MBC and SC) every year. Officials allot one or two days to these communities to hold the festival, said Rajkumar, a resident.
“The festival begins with a flag hoisting ceremony and the flag remains hoisted for 10 days. While the BC and MBC communities are allowed to hold the festival within these 10 days, those of the SC community are permitted to hold the festival only on the 11th day, when the flag gets lowered. This is injustice and in protest, we are planning to boycott the election,” he added.
Meanwhile, when contacted by TNIE, an official from Radhapuram taluk office said that the executive officer of HR & CE department held talks with the SC residents over the temple dispute. “We have advised them (residents) to cast their votes,” he added.