Two hundred and fifty Dalit families in Vedaranyam and Karur in Tamil Nadu, threatened to convert to Islam, after allegedly being disallowed entry into temples that were built using their contributions. These families were denied the right to conduct the temple festival in the Mahasakthi Amman temple in their locality.
In Pazhangallimedu, the contention is between caste Hindus who reportedly enjoy rights at the Mandagapadi temple and Dalits who claim that the temple was originally built in their locality but was shifted to the current spot after flooding.
“Though we don’t have evidence to prove the earlier existence of the temple, we were told by our ancestors that the temple was in our area. Now, we want the Mandagapadi rights during one of the five days of the festival,” N Senthil, a functionary of a pro-Dalit political party, said.
Dalits claim that members of the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath contacted them as news spread of their idea to embrace Islam. Other right-wing organisations have also tried to dissuade them from taking this step.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
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