Newlywed Dalit couple denied temple entry in Rajasthan, priest arrested
Jodhpur, Apr 24: The Rajasthan police Sunday arrested a priest for allegedly not allowing a newlywed Dalit couple to offer prayers at a temple in Jalore, officials said.
A video of the incident on Saturday also went viral purportedly showing Vela Bharti stopping the couple at the gate of the temple at Neelkanth village under Ahore subdivision of the district.
The video also captures the ensuing argument between them.
The aggrieved family members then approached the police and field a case against the priest under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
"We have registered a case under SC/ST Act against the priest and arrested him," Jalore Superintendent of Police Harsh Vardhan Agarwalla said on Sunday.
According to the complaint, Kuka Ram's baraat had reached Neelkanth village on Saturday and the couple wanted offer a coconut at the temple after their wedding.
"When we reached there, the priest stopped us at the gate and asked us to offer the coconut outside. He asked us not to enter the temple as we are from the Dalit community," according to a complaint filed by Tara Ram, the bride's cousin.
It said some villagers also joined the argument and supported the priest, saying it was the decision of the village and there was no point in arguing with the priest.
"We pleaded with the priest a lot but he was adamant. After that, we filed a complaint against the priest with the police," Tara Ram said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
