Bihar CM Ram Manjhi orders probe into purification of temple after visit

Denying the Chief Minister’s allegations of the temple having been “washed after his visit”, Mishra said: “No such thing happened. Rather, the Chief Minister was overwhelmed with the reception. He may have been misinformed about it.”

He added that had such a thing happened, a case would have been registered promptly and the entire village would have been fined.

JD(U) MLC Vinod Kumar Singh echoed what Mishra said. “Ram Lashan Ram Raman (stae Mines and Geology Minister) must have been misinformed by his people. Those people should be brought before the police and the media to give the true version,” said Singh.

On the other hand, residents of Tharhi are greatly upset at Manjhi’s allegations. The villagers demanded Manjhi “apologise to the goddess” and alleged that he “might have issued such remarks to further his Dalit politics ahead of next year’s elections”.

Parmeshwari temple priest Ashok Kumar Jha said they were pained at the allegation. “I could not even carry out regular evening cleaning that day as people continued to visit the temple till late in the evening. The clay pind in any case is never washed,” he said.

Dhanesar Ram, a Mahadalit, was beating drums at the temple amidst ongoing Durga Puja festivities. A third generation drum beater, Ram said he seldom faced casteist remarks in the Brahmin-dominated village.

Local RJD leader Ramvilas Dhangar, also a Mahadalit, said he had contested thrice from Rajnagar Assembly as BSP candidate but never faced or learnt of caste discrimination at the temple.

Shivesh Jha, a village elder, said: “We are deeply hurt. The CM should have checked his facts. We gave him so much respect and he returned the favour by playing Dalit politics”.

Villagers paraded some Mahadalits of the village on Monday evening to show that the temple does not discriminate on caste lines. Young voters were enraged and demanded Manjhi “apologise to the goddess or else they would sit on dharna”.