The denial of entry of a group of Dalit people into a temple at Gollapalli village in Puttur mandal of in Tirupati district triggered a row.
Tension has been reportedly prevailing in the village over the issue. The entrance gates of the Polakshamma temple were closed on Sunday, reportedly to prevent the entry of Dalit devotees.
It has been a practice for the devotees to cook Pongal and offer the same to the Goddess during the annual festival. Some unidentified persons from the village got the temple locked well in advance, reportedly to prevent the Dalit devotees from entering the premises.
A group of Dalit devotees were surprised to see the temple gate locked early in the day. With none to answer their queries over the closure of the temple gates, they cooked Pongal outside the premises and offered the same to the deity from there. They also staged a protest, demanding that the government must take cognisance of the issue what they described as ‘discrimination in the name of caste’.
According to sources, all seven trustees of the temple unanimously decided not to allow the residents of the local Harijanawada into the temple.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesperson Sapthagiri Prasad called it an ‘inhuman act’. “The incident is a testimony to the deteriorating law and order in the State,” he said and demanded the resignation of MLA R.K. Roja.
However, Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayanaswamy, who hails from the district, brushed the incident aside by calling it ‘an insignificant conflict between two groups belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and appealed to the villagers to observe restraint.
“The temple is visited mostly by SC communities only. It is just a local dispute,” said the Deputy Chief Minister. He instructed the police to ensure that the issue is not blown out of proportion.
