Kerala Temple Board Minister Alleges Caste Discrimination At Temple Event

Kerala Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan said that he faced caste discrimination at a temple where he went to attend an inaugural function.

Mr Radhakrishnan, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community, said two priests of the temple refused to hand him the flame they had brought to light the main lamp at the venue for the ceremony.

Instead, they lit the main lamp themselves, and after that, placed the flame on the ground, thinking that he would take it and light the main lamp, the minister alleged.

Mr Radhakrishnan, a member of the central committee of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), said this at a programme organised by the Bharatiya Velan Service Society (BVS) in Kerala's Kottayam on Sunday.

"I went to attend a function at a temple. On the occasion of the inaugural function, the main priest placed a lamp there. He came with the flame and I thought that he was going to give it to me to light the lamp. But he did not hand it to me. He lit the lamp himself. I thought that it was part of a custom and should not be disturbed," he said.

"After that, he handed over the flame to the co-priest who also lit the lamp. I thought it (the small lamp) would be given to me after that. But it was not. Instead, he put the flame on the ground. Their thinking was that I would take it off the ground and light the (main) lamp," he added.

"Should I light the lamp (which was not personally handed over to me by the priest)? Should I take it? I said get lost. You don't consider the money given by me as untouchable, but you consider me as untouchable," he added.

He, however, did not share much details of this incident or where it happened.

K Radhakrishnan, the Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes and Devaswoms represents Chelakkara constituency of the Thrissur district.

He served as the Minister for the Welfare of Backward and Scheduled Communities and Youth affairs from (1996 - 2001), opposition Chief Whip (2001 to 2006) for the Kerala Legislative Assembly and Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly (2006-2011).

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