Man gets possessed by various demons. Caste mentality is a demon that does not go away no matter how much treatment is given. The number of people in our society who feel comfortable about differentiating people based on their caste and religion without seeing them as human beings is not so low. There is no lower or higher caste. There is only the human race. This is a fact known to all. Yet those who blinded themselves and took pride in the name of caste showed it through their actions in the last century.

The teachings of Sree Narayana Gurudeva and the growth of communist movements in Kerala created a situation where caste rivalry and untouchability could not be displayed. This is how the demonic thought of caste, which could not be expressed, migrated in microscopic form into the dark recesses of some people's minds and stayed there without coming out. However, from time to time, it comes out through certain events. The caste discrimination faced by Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan during the ceremony at Payyannur Nambiatrakovval Siva Temple is one of them.

The public came to know about the January incident when the minister himself revealed it while speaking at a function in Kottayam recently. Many people are trying to blame the minister asking why he did not say anything and did not take action for so long. Radhakrishnan is a person who has experienced more caste discrimination than this in his life. There is no point in fighting against each incident.

However, Radhakrishnan's politics stand against this way of thought. Such is the action and struggle that he has been carrying on through his uncorrupted public life. The ceremony was not held in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Which Vedic book says that the priest should not hand over the lamp to another person during a ceremony that is held outside? Who can say that there have not been incidents in Kerala where people belonging to the same sect have been jailed for stealing the necklace from the Lord's chest in the sanctum sanctorum?

A lawsuit against the person who showed caste discrimination will not end this discrimination. Guru himself said that caste thought is like trying to wash off foam from a bar of soap. The more you wash, the more foam you get. Caste mentality is no less not only among the forward castes but also among the backward castes. This is a cancer that has afflicted the human mind. People do not know about it because the scars it gave are not visible. The minister said that it is better to take action to change the minds of those who command the untouchability of humans than to face them legally, and he is right.