The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has said that the State government should pass an ordinance banning the practices of
Pankti Bheda
(separate sitting arrangements for Brahmins during lunch) and
Made Snana
(where devotees of other castes roll on the leftovers of lunch by Brahmins) in temples in the State.
The party stage dharna to highlight the “discriminatory practices”, in Udupi and Mangalore on Monday.
In
Udupi, the party launched an indefinite dharna near the Service Bus
Stand here to protest against the ‘Pankti Bheda’ practiced at Sri
Krishna Math/Temple, here. At the protest meet, G.V. Sriram Reddy,
Secretary of the State unit of CPI(M), said that if the State government
did not immediately issue an ordinance, the party would intensify its
agitation on these issues. He said the previous Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) government was in favour of these practices and defended them. But
it was surprising that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who spoke openly
against discrimination, should remain mum on these issues, which
perpetuated the discrimination. He said that an
assistant lecturer of School of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal
University, Vanita Shetty, was prevented from having lunch and asked to
leave the dinning hall of the Sri Krishna Math/Temple in full public
view on April 15, because she was not a Brahmin.
Vishwesha
Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Math went all around the country speaking
against the caste system. But he had done nothing to prevent caste
discrimination which was taking place at the Sri Krishna Math/Temple
here. The Pejawar seer should take steps to see that
people of all castes had their meal together in the Krishna Math/Temple
without any discrimination. Political parties were silent on this latest
incident of ‘Pankti Bheda’ because of vote-bank politics, Mr. Reddy
said.
In Mangalore, the party activists staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Addressing
a gathering K. Yadav Shetty, CPI(M) candidate in the Lok Sabha
elections and general secretary of the district unit of Karnataka
Prantha Raita Sangha, said the party wanted to know why the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) was not talking about “discrimination in serving
food”. He said that senior Congress leader B.
Janardhana Poojary took some progressive steps in Gokarnanatheswara
temple at Kudroli but was not raising his voice against
pankti bedha
.
Vasantha Achary, a member of the district secretariat of the party, said that
made snana
practised at Kukke Subrahmanya temple and at some other temples should be stopped. He said that
pankti bedha
was the root cause for
made snana
.
Raichur District Committee of Communist Party of India - Marxist staged a demonstration outside the office of Deputy Commissioner on Monday demanding the government to ban ‘Pankti bheda’ (separate
seating arrangements for Brahmins and non-Brahmins while serving food). Condemning
the recent incident where Vanita Shetty, an assistant lecturer at the
School of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal, was allegedly told to leave
the dinning hall meant for Brahmins in Sri Krishna Math. The agitating
activists demanded that those who practiced caste-based discrimination
be booked. A memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister was submitted to the office of the Deputy Commissioner.
In Kolar Members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a dharna
outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office demanding a ban on
the practice of ‘pankti bheda’ in Sri Krishna Temple, Udupi. Led by
CPI(M) district committee secretary Gandhinagar Narayanaswamy and State
committee member G. Arjunan, the activists raised slogans against the
inhuman practice at the Udupi temple.
