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Journalism of Courage
The first ever batch of Dalit graduates from Lucknow’s only training school for priests is facing employment blues of the most humiliating kind.
Around 100 of the 1,025 students who graduated from the Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan this year are dalits. The consciousness of their caste, which wasn’t too evident during their three-month training, is being rubbed into their faces by those whose preserve priesthood has been for centuries.
None of them has got a job in any temple yet. And those who have been performing rituals say they are being obstructed by Brahmins.
Ram Anuj, a dalit priest, says Brahmins forced him to abandon death rites in a village in Jaunpur district. ‘‘I was forced to stop because I am a dalit,’’ he told The Indian Express.
‘‘Though we too perform rituals as per Vedic traditions, we face opposition because of our caste. None of us has been able to get a temple job. Even performing our priest’s job is tough. How are we to earn our livelihood?’’
As Mayawati cuts a swathe across Uttar Pradesh’s caste hierarchy, imposing her own brand of social engineering, these dalit priests are learning that in their job market, it’s still their caste certificate rather than their job qualifications that matters.
Ram Samucha, another dalit priest, was similarly thrown out from Ballia in middle of a ceremony. ‘‘The opposition was not from my client but from local Brahmins who told me to leave. I had no choice because of the unified opposition,’’ he said.
The opposition to dalit priests is gathering several votaries, and vocal ones at that. The head priest of Lucknow’s Durga temple, Hari Narain Dubey, threatened self-immolation if any dalit priest was given a job in any temple.
‘‘We have learnt that under pressure from Chief Minister Mayawati, temple trusts are thinking of employing dalit priests. If this happens, all Brahmin priests will stop working in those temples,’’ he said. The state government hasn’t announced — or even hinted at — any such move yet.
‘‘How can dalits be denied the right to perform religious functions?’’ Mahant Ramchand Paramhans, chairman of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas, said from Ayodhya. ‘‘Shabri was a dalit but Lord Ram ate with her. When Ram did not differentiate, how we can even think of doing so?’’
The Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan, meanwhile, is waiting for funds to start teaching its next batch. ‘‘We started this course on an experimental basis, and the selection of candidates wasn’t based on a quota for dalits. But training for the next batch hasn’t started since we haven’t received a government grant. We will be writing to the UP government and the Centre,’’ sansthan director Sachidanand Pathak told The Indian Express.
