'Faith can't be fenced by caste'

The man-made caste system in the name of God has been a practice in India for ages. Even those who preach the idea of humanity and ‘god for all’ are caught justifying the caste system in India. Along with this, the trend of fencing off faith with caste is also growing in parallel. It is also a reality that although exclusion in the name of caste has visibly disappeared in Kerala as a result of the wisdom spread by spiritual greats, including Gurudevan, some distorted minds still espouse the archaic notion.

There are frequent attempts to impose a caste consciousness in the name of God, tradition, and customs. Tamil Nadu, which boasts of Dravidian politics, still reports cases of caste discrimination in rural areas. In this context, the observation and subsequent ruling of the Madras High Court that God does not discriminate and divinity cannot be limited by caste or religion is very noteworthy and timely.

The bench of Justice Balaji ordered the district administration to take steps to take a temple chariot through a Dalit colony in a village in Kanchipuram. The petition was filed by Selvaraj, a Dalit from the Puthagramam area of ​​Kanchipuram, and Anandan, district secretary of the Untouchability Eradication Committee. Untouchability has been abolished under Article 14 of the Constitution. Therefore, the court pointed out that no one has the right to dictate the conditions as to who is entitled to stand before God and worship him.

The court ordered the Kanchipuram district administration and the Devaswom department to ensure that there is no discrimination in worshipping the deity and to provide all facilities to Dalits at the Muthukaliamman temple.

The court also said that the chariot should be allowed to pass through the Dalit colony. The case was triggered after certain caste members stopped the Dalits from worshipping the deity at the Muthukaliamman temple. Democratic governments should take an iron-fist approach to such forms of discrimination. It is due to the government’s failure that the cases had to be taken to court.