Kannur (Kerala), September 20 (Language) Responding to the alleged allegations of untouchability by Kerala Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan, the organization of traditional priests on Wednesday said that the minister has made a ‘mistake’ in understanding the rituals and entering the temple with someone. There is no discrimination.
The state committee of All Kerala Tantri Samajam said that the priests do not touch anyone, whether Brahmin or non-Brahmin, before the completion of ‘Deva Puja’ and rituals.
The organization wondered whether there was any “bad intention” behind stoking the controversy as the incident in question “technically happened eight months ago”. The priests’ organization alleged that the ‘innocent act’ was being used for communal polarisation.
The Samajam is an association of traditional high priests who perform the rituals and customs prevalent in most temples in Kerala.
The organization said in a Facebook post that in the incident in question, the ‘Melashanti’ (chief priest) – who was performing the puja – was asked to come in at the last moment and light the lamp as the temple tantri (traditional high priest) was absent.
The organization said that after lighting the lamp, he went back to complete the puja and the minister took it as untouchability and expressed his displeasure on the spot.
The organization said that in Kerala, cleanliness in temples was purely spiritual and claimed that it was not caste-based discrimination.
The Samajam said a serious case was registered against two priests working in a temple under the Malabar Devaswom Board only on the basis of their caste.
It further claimed that ignoring the reality, some people are insulting the temple’s ‘Melshanthi’ and his community on the basis of the minister’s statement.
Earlier, Kerala Devaswom Affairs Minister K. Radhakrishnan had claimed that he publicly mentioned the incident of caste discrimination he faced at the temple because he wanted to warn the progressive society of the state that the evil of casteism was “once again”. Trying to raise her head.
Radhakrishnan, a Central Committee member of the ruling Marxist Communist Party (CPI-M) in Kerala, alleged that attacks on Scheduled Caste people have increased in recent times in India. He said that such incidents raise questions on the existence of Dalits in this country.
Radhakrishnan told PTI, “I cited my experiences as a warning so that such casteist ideas do not enter into the mindset of Kerala. To protect the social progress we have achieved so far.
Radhakrishnan, who himself belongs to the Scheduled Caste, said that remnants of casteist ideas still exist in the minds of some people, but they do not express them due to fear of social reaction.
“If such a social system flourishes in Kerala, we will soon lose what we have achieved so far through the progressive movement and the Left movement,” the minister said.
He said that reports of caste-based atrocities in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra inspired him to recall his experiences as a minister.
Radhakrishnan alleged on Monday that instead of handing over the lamp to him, two priests of the temple placed it on the ground and asked him to pick it up from there. He said that he had gone to the inauguration of the temple and traditionally the inauguration is marked by lighting of the lamp.
The minister alleged that the two priests of the temple themselves lit the main lamp with a smaller lamp and then kept the smaller lamp on the ground when it was their turn.
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