No temple entry for dalits in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD: Sunday was Dr B R Ambedkar's death anniversary, 'Nirwan Diwas' as Dalits call it. And we hate to be doing this. But the bubble of a Vibrant Gujarat needs a prick in the bottom. At the lowest level of the society, Gujarat is not happy. Untouchability still exists in various forms in Gujarat.
In a first-of-its-kind study on a large scale, representing 98,000 Dalits across 1,655 villages in Gujarat. it comes out that 97 % respondents feel they have 'no entry' at certain places in their own villages, including a temple or where a religious ceremony is taking place.
Mahatma Gandhi himself wrote about the problem of untouchability in Gujarat when he set about establishing a base in Ahmedabad. He said in his writings that when he insisted on keeping a Dalit ('Harijan' as he insisted on calling them) in his ashram here, people started shying away. Even sponsors developed cold feet and funds started drying up. Bapu put his foot down and had his way.
Almost 95 years later, Gujarat is still not listening to the Mahatma even as the world tuned in. The bar for Dalits is felt at not only temples but also 'satsangs' and 'kathas'. At these religious events, not being able to sit on a cot/chair with other upper castes, has been clearly established as a sign of untouchability.
The study has been carried out by Ahmedabad-based Navsarjan Trust with three US-based organisations — the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, Dartmouth College at the University of Michigan and Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Social Justice and Human Rights, Washington, DC.
"This is the first study on such a large sample size and we covered 99 forms of untouchability that are still practised in villages. There are 12,500 villages in Gujarat where Dalits live. We have covered 1,655 of these villages and around 11 per cent of the total Dalit population,'' says Manjula Pradeep, director of Navsarjan Trust.
During the study, the researchers did not find a single village where no form of untouchability is practised, giving an unnerving idea about the extent of the problem in a state which is home to Mahatma Gandhi. Ahmedabad-based social scientist Prof Ghanshyam Shah, a retired professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, who has studied the problem of untouchability in detail, also assisted in the research.
Prof Shah says, "Dalits face untouchability at religious places the most because the concept of untouchability has been centered around religion and 'purity'. It may seem for urban middle classes that many things have changed, but the ground reality is harsh till today.''
Is Indian society straying from the tolerant nature that it's known for?
Readers' opinions (116)
Raju Charles (USA) 22 Jul, 2013 09:41 AM
True Hinduism is practiced in Kerala! Gujarat got caste ism not Hinduism! In God's own Kerala all are welcome to the Temples! no caste or any kind of discrimination! I haven't seen poor Hindus are ill treated in the temples. caste is hateful to Krishna! caste Hindus got Christna not Krishna! Hinduism is safe in Kerala not in Gujarat! I pray that the new found wealth in Sri:Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum will be used for the welfare of poor Hindus and the Priest!
08 Dec, 2009 07:32 PM
inadmissible in the XXIst century that a man decides against a man.Restrictions are our own downfall. Religion is too old and outdated to dictate. The sikhs do not cut their hair because it is God given, (What about the nails?) the Jains cover their mouth or have restricted eating habits ignoring the are destroying billions of life /day which the religion does not explain. I rather not list the muslim belief, the list will be loo long. The same with the prejudices of the Hindoos. The only religion is one with total freedom of the person to learn and decide. Have a good day.
08 Dec, 2009 09:43 AM
Stop It !!!!! Media just want to highlight this to dafame Narendra Modi. Otherwise do you all really think that Media is really interested & seriously hurt by this ? If this issue doesn't exist in other part of countries ?? The funda of Dalit is existing since years because of so called high cast Brahmins and not because of Modi. But people's thinking is getting changed slowly and it will take some time to remove it totally. Some commenters catch this news as chance to comment on Modi. But look at NITIN PATIL from Pune. He is advertising BUDDHISAM here !! Great na. If at all there are problems with dalits like these, dalit parties are also responsible for that. Mayawati, Athawale, etc. leaders are always busy in their dirty politics and using emotions of dalits for their gain. They should help this people to get educated by providing resources like Hospitals, Schools, etc rather than building gardens of BUDDHA & Mayawati-Kashiram. Pl. don't point fingers to others but look inside yourself and try to improve. If everyone from us does the same, we will definitely work together alongwith dalits to develope India and there will be no word like DALIT in our dictionary. Jai Hind !!! Jay Bharat !!!!
08 Dec, 2009 08:30 AM
Hello Editor, what is wrong with you? I see that all comments which are against modi are posted but the one which i posted yesterday didn't appear because it has truth. I said castism is not only in gujrat, it is through out india. yes this news is a very big issue becuase BJP is ruling the state and modi is a CM. Why the survery didn't take place through out india and only gujrat. Is there any specific reason to conduct survey only in gujrat? Where is the report from other states. You can see castism (racism) in metro cities too. Do not go far, in Delhi itself you can see it. I am sure in TOI office their is somewhere this caste racism is there.
08 Dec, 2009 08:28 AM
Hey......What about the reservation system in Education field? Engineering, Medical etc. When a student with higher % looses admission because he belongs to open caste and student with lower % gets the admission in college. Is this sound fair to you Mr. Jay? So stops commenting on this political article by TOI which only talks about Gujarat only.
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Dalits: Also called untouchables, members of the lowest social status group in the ... sway) in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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