Take over Chidambaram temple: CPI

CPI state secretary R Mutharasan on Sunday urged the state to enact a special law to take over the management of Sri Chidambaram Natarajar Temple in the wake of the incident of Diksithars attacking a Dalit woman worshiper.

In a statement, he alleged that the Dikshitars continued to discriminate against worshipers based on their caste. Pointing out that the Chidambaram town police has registered a case against Dikshitars under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said that the accused priests were yet to be arrested.

“The priests should be arrested immediately and court cases should be conducted in such a way that the accused are convicted, ” he said, urging the state to enact a special law to take over the management of the Chidambaram Temple. “The government should fix salary for the Dikshitars working in the temple, ” he demanded.