VILLUPURAM: Calling the Madras High Court order on Thursday permitting people from any caste to offer worship at the Shri Dharmaraja Draupati Amman Temple “delayed justice”, many Dalit residents of Melpathi village said the order “does not change the caste reality.”
Speaking to TNIE, a 43-year-old resident said the court upheld democracy, but the reality as we know it is different. “We can’t enter the temple assuming the court or the government will save us. It is only a matter of time before a bigger, stronger mob of caste Hindus humiliate and physically assault us if we enter the temple again,” the villager said.
During a festival on April 7, 2023, four SC residents — K Kathiravan, his brother, mother and sister — were physically assaulted and verbally abused by caste Hindus for trying to enter the temple. The latter claimed that allowing the SC residents to enter would “pollute the temple’s holiness”. After peace talks failed, the revenue divisional officer on June 7, 2023, sealed the temple, after which only the priest, appointed by the HR&CE department, has been performing rituals twice a day till now.
The main survivor of the incident, seeking anonymity, said, “I don’t want to recollect the horrific memories. I have moved on and understood that caste is something that can never be erased from our society, and the only way for Dalits like me is to learn to live with it. I or most of us in our village do not need that temple nor do we desire to offer prayers there.”
Besides, the Dalit residents were chiefly concerned about the police case foisted on them based on the perpetrators’ complaint after the incident. Another resident asked whether the order would rule out the case, which had wrongfully indicated their protest as criminal. “The court may even out the issue but the cases will ruin our future,” the resident said.
Despite TNIE’s attempts to contact panchayat president R Manivel, he was unavailable for comment. A caste Hindu resident said, “The temple remains with the eight families that are natives of the village. But, we have no choice besides accepting the order.”