Madras HC rues SC community’s plea to be part of temple festivals

CHENNAI: It is unfortunate that devotees belonging to the Adi Dravidar (Scheduled Caste) community are placed in a situation where they are required to seek permission to participate in a temple festival, said the Madras High Court, and made it clear no temples should be allowed to conduct functions under the supervision of any caste.

Caste has stratified the society to an extent where the petitioner, belonging to SC, owns his caste and seeks a separate day for his community to participate in the temple festival, wrote Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, while disposing of a petition seeking allocation of separate day for SC community to attend the temple festival in Rasipuram.

“All members belonging to the Adi Dravidar community should exert themselves to eradicate ‘caste’ from the society as quickly as possible,” wrote the judge.

The judge also held that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) authorities’ decision to permit the conduction of temple functions by each caste separately is unconstitutional, which cannot stand scrutiny of law, wrote the judge.

Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy already held that any social group has the right to claim a particular way of worship, but caste-based preference on particular days of the temple festival should not be allowed, while dealing with a petition requesting to conduct a temple festival on a caste basis.

Special government pleader for HR&CE, NRR Arun Natarajan submitted that the tahsildar and executive office of the temple have issued a circular in this regard that any invitation or notice regarding the temple festivals should not carry any caste name.

Recording the submission, the judge disposed of the petition and observed that “no claim can be entertained concerning temples based on the caste”, held the judge.

The petitioner, A Periyasamy, belonging to the Adi Dravidar community, moved the petition seeking to permit him and his community people to participate in the “Thiru Ther Oorvalam” (car festival) of Arulmigu Sri Thulukka Choodamani Amman temple at Pudupatti village in Rasipuram.

Noting that the temple festival will commence on April 4, the petitioner sought the HC to direct the HR&CE authorities to allow their community to participate and to conduct the festival by allotting a separate day for them.