MADURAI: Holding that customs may deserve respect but not discrimination, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently issued a series of directions to the Dindigul collector to inquire and decide a petition which alleged caste discrimination in the conduct of an annual temple festival in Muthalapuram village in Dindigul.
Justice L Victoria Gowri was hearing a petition filed by a resident of the village’s North Street, which is predominantly inhabited by members of the Devendrakula Vellalar community, alleging that a ceremonial wooden chest, which is taken on procession during the festival every year in the Tamil month of Thai, is deliberately prevented from entering their street by other community members.
Though the latter argued that the procession follows the customary route and there is no caste discrimination, the judge opined that she cannot overlook the disputed question of facts regarding the routes.
To ensure that no practice, custom, usage, or social arrangement results in a disability founded upon caste, she held that an informed decision has to be taken by the collector by conducting comprehensive inquiries and meetings with all stakeholders within three months.
The true strength of a democratic society lies not in preserving exclusionary traditions but in reforming them in the light of constitutional morality. Customs may deserve respect; discrimination never does, she added.
The district administration should approach the issue not as a mere law-and-order exercise but as an opportunity to reinforce the constitutional values of equality, dignity and fraternity among all residents of the village, she further said and disposed of the petition.
