MADURAI: Observing that temple festivals should be inclusive and celebrated by all people belonging to the Hindu religion, including those belonging to Scheduled Caste communities, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently criticised the exclusion of a SC community from the invitation of a temple festival on the ground that they did not donate any money to the event. It further ordered the authorities not to mention any caste names in future invitations of the temple concerned.
A bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and AD Maria Clete passed the order on a petition filed by KP Selvaraj, president of the Naduvikottai Adi Dravidar Welfare Association, seeking a direction to print ‘Adi Dravidars,’ instead of ‘Oorars’ (referring to the villagers), in the invitation for the annual festival at the Pattukottai Nadiamman temple in Thanjavur.
The executive officer of the temple had included the names of various sponsors along with their caste names in the invitation, but had omitted mentioning the Adi Dravidar community, referring to them simply as ‘oorars’ instead, saying they had not made any monetary contributions.
Noting that a similar dispute arose at the same temple in 2009, for which a peace committee meeting was held, the judges criticised the manner in which Dalits are subsumed under the generic term of ‘Oorar’ denying them specific recognition, while dominant castes are explicitly identified and given visibility.
It is strange that the executive officer, being a government officer, is supporting this, the judges added.
‘Dalits have right to be recognised without need to declare caste’
This selective visibility reinforces systemic inequality denying Dalits both social value, privacy and meaningful participation in society, Justice Clete, said. “The failure to explicitly recognise Dalits forces them into a dilemma — either accept invisibility or assert their caste identity to gain acknowledgment.
True inclusivity must reconcile this contradiction by ensuring that Dalits have the right to be recognised without being compelled to declare their caste identity, thus balancing their dignity, privacy, and equitable participation in public religious affairs,” the judge added.
The judges also opined that though the authorities may argue that there is no restriction on SC individuals from worshipping the deity or taking part in the festival, participation must be meaningful and substantive, not merely symbolic or tokenistic.
The core issue is not nomenclature, so merely passing an order to include their name will not necessarily ensure them genuine participation and equality in the festival, the judges observed and passed the above order.
‘Reinforcing systemic inequality’
This selective visibility reinforces systemic inequality, denying Dalits both social value, privacy and meaningful participation in society, Justice AD Maria Clete, who authored the judgment, said