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RANCHI, INDIA, June 24, 2004: Backward caste members of a village in India’s Jharkhand state have entered a temple without fear of retribution for the first time with police help, 16 years after its construction. “Today we have got real freedom. Now we feel proud of ourselves,” said Sukarmani Devi, 80, who was among the 12 women belonging to the Dalit community offering prayers Tuesday, according to a delayed report reaching here. The community had been kept out of the temple in Pachmo village of Chatra district, about 190 km from here, under pain of punishment by village elders belonging to upper castes. They had been handing over their puja materials to priests outside the temple. Devi said, “It was my long-cherished dream to offer prayers in the temple. “When the temple was constructed there was a ban on the entry of our community,” she added. Devi recalled that nobody from her community had entered the temple after a woman, who had offered prayers inside the temple 16 years ago, was punished severely by the village elders. The issue of discrimination came to focus after students in a nearby school refused to have food cooked by a dalit woman. Following tension in the area, police conducted an inquiry that brought out the discrimination against the backward castes. Police intervened in the school also to end discrimination.

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