Wednesday, October 28, 2009

lead Dalits into Chettipulam temple



-- Collector leads Dalits into Chettipulam temple P.V. Srividya
Villagers other than Dalits were not present

Considerable police security at temple

Dalits promised of all administrative help


— Photo: M. Moorthy

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: Dalits offer prayers at Ekambareshwarar temple in Chettipulam in Nagapattinam.

VEDARANYAM: Dalits of Chettipulam on Tuesday entered the Ekambareshwarar temple here to offer prayers, amid considerable police security. They were led by the District Collector and the District Revenue Officer (DRO).

The temple entry followed an agreement reached at peace talks on Monday between Dalits and caste Hindus.

Arrangements were made for Dalits to offer special prayers early in the day. As the police and district administration officials waited outside the temple for their arrival, about 75 Dalits from Therkku Kaadu Dalit habitations were taken to the temple in vans escorted by police personnel.

Women and men jostled with one another as they crossed the threshold of the temple and walked towards the sanctum sanctorum with flowers, garlands and coconuts as offerings to the idol. As they craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the deity, the DRO and the Collector personally collected their offerings and passed them on to the priest in the sanctum sanctorum for special prayers.

While community leaders, including Chettipulam panchayat president and vice-chairman of Vedaranyam Panchayat Union, waited at the entrance to felicitate officials including the Collector and DRO, officials stepped aside to personally usher in the Dalits into the temple.

Collector C. Munianathan and DRO A. Annadurai personally served prasadam to every Dalit inside the temple after the prayers.

Later, Mr. Munianathan expressed his unequivocal displeasure to the panchayat president and vice-chairman over the turn of affairs over the past fortnight. "Discrimination has no place," he said.

He appealed to Dalits to function normally without any fear and assured them of all administrative support. Police personnel would be stationed in the area for a few more days to ensure normalcy.

Villagers other than Dalits were absent at the temple. Most of the men were said to be on the run following a crackdown by the police after the violence of October 14.

Abhay Kumar Singh, Deputy-Inspector General of Police, Thanjavur Range; Maheshwar Dayal, Superintendent of Police, Nagapattinam; Praveen Kumar Abinabu, Superintendent of Police, Tiruvarur and Rajendran, Revenue Divisional Officer, were among those present.


















dOnOTpRINT

Friday, October 16, 2009

Happy Deepavali



--
















dOnOTpRINT

Friday, October 09, 2009

FW: DUSSERAPPERUNNAL !?



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: tsshyamaprasad thekkepadikkal
Date: 2009/10/9




 

 

 

 






















dOnOTpRINT

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Court issues notice on ‘Mahatma’ pens

Court issues notice on 'Mahatma' pens 

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Union government, MontBlanc International GmbH, Germany, and other respondents on a writ petition that sought a ban on the marketing and sale of "Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition 241" and "Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition 3000" luxury pens in the country.

The Bench, comprising Chief Justice S.R. Bannurmath and Justice A.K. Basheer, issued the notice on the petition filed by Dijo Kappen, managing trustee of the Centre for Consumer Education at Pala in Kottayam.

Montblanc International, on September 29, launched a set of high-end pens priced at Rs.14 lakh each under its limited-edition series called the "Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-241." The 241 pens in the series were made to signify the "241 miles" travelled by Gandhiji during the Dandi March.

'Derogation'

The petitioner said the attempt by the pen company to market luxury pens in the name of the Mahatma Gandhi was in derogation of national honour. The Father of the Nation was considered the epitome of simplicity and making him the symbol of a pen that cost Rs.14 lakh was nothing but an attempt to degrade everything he stood for, and to mock a nation of middle-class and below-the-poverty-line persons who look up to him and whom he tried to liberate.



--
http://www.otshows.com/shows/images/green_earth.jpg

s e a r c h

Custom Search

JustACounter

The Hindu - Breaking News

BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition

Blog Archive