PATNA, INDIA, October 11, 2008: At least three incidents
of violence against Dalits took place during Navaratri. People belonging to Dalit community were kicked, punched and prohibited from entering temples.
The latest atrocity occurred in Nalanda–the district where Buddha and Mahavira had preached the message of social harmony and breaking of caste barriers–where a Dalit youth was shot because he had entered a temple and offered prasad there. Police said a fight broke out after a few people belonging to a Dalit community offered Prasad to the Durga idol without waiting for the upper-class people do it first.
The clash left many injured from both communities. Eventually,
some upper caste men opened fire on the Dalits, killing one and injuring others. Police said they have arrested two of the four persons who were named in the FIR. They mentioned that another reason for the murder may have been a land dispute between the two communities.
That same day, about a dozen Dalit homes were set on fire by vandals from upper castes at Mushari-Navtolia village in Khagaria district.