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JAIPUR, INDIA, January 13, 2004: Activists participating in a national Dalit Swadhikar rally were denied entry into the famous Shrinath temple in Nathdwara, despite a 15-year-old judgment of the Rajasthan High Court directing the State Government to ensure unhindered access for Dalits to the temple. The rally, organised by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, started from four different locations in India in December and will culminate in Mumbai on January 15 at the World Social Forum venue. The northern segment, starting from New Delhi, arrived in Nathdwara after covering 16 districts in Rajasthan on January 2, when the participants tried to enter the Shrinath temple for worship. The convener of the Centre for Dalit Human Rights, P.L. Mimroth, said that hundreds of local residents belonging to the so-called upper castes stopped the rally of 35 Dalit activists about 2 km from the temple and used abusive and threatening language against them. Though the rallyists could have visited the temple without being noticed, the people recognized their caste status after spotting a local Dalit among them. “They were the normal next door people whom we regularly meet in our daily life. But when it came to the temple, they were adamant on not allowing us inside so as to protect the sanctity of their religion,” Mr. Mimroth said, adding that Dalits had always been exploited for selfish interests of upper castes and never treated equally. The Centre for Dalit Human Rights has sent memoranda to the Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, and the chairpersons of the National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes and the State Human Rights Commission, urging them to take appropriate measures to facilitate entry of Dalits into the Shrinath temple and strict enforcement of Article 17 of the Constitution which forbids restrictions on temple entry based on caste.

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