Dharmasthala case: Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade welcomes arrest of complainant
Mangaluru (Karnataka), Aug 23 (PTI): Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy Temple, on Saturday welcomed the arrest of the complainant in a case involving allegations of multiple murders, rapes and burials in the temple town, saying that the "truth is beginning to come out."
Speaking to a gathering that had arrived in Dharmasthala to show solidarity, after the SIT produced the complainant in a Belthangady court, Heggade said the temple town had been facing "unfounded allegations" which had caused distress to devotees and the community at large.
"With this development, we have faith that facts will prevail and justice will be upheld," he said.
Heggade refrained from commenting further, stating that the investigation was ongoing and would bring clarity in due course.
The complainant, C N Chinnaiah, who had alleged multiple murders, rapes, and burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades, was arrested on Saturday by the SIT probing the charges, officials said.
He has been taken into custody by the SIT for 10 days for further investigation.
Chinnaiah, a former sanitation worker, claimed he had worked in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, during which he was allegedly forced to bury several bodies, including those of women and minors. He alleged that some of the victims showed signs of sexual assault and had given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the Special Investigation Team carried out excavations at multiple sites identified by the complainant. Skeletal remains were recovered from two locations.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Jai Bhim: Slogan that energised Dalits was first given at this central Maharashtra village
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): 'Jai Bhim': These two words have come to symbolise the awakening and empowerment of the Dalit community in independent India, but not many people know how it originated.
The slogan, which also encapsulates the immense reverence in which Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is held, was first raised at the Makranpur Parishad, a conference organised at Makranpur village in Kannad teshil of today's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Maharashtra.
Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, died on December 6, 1956.
Bhausaheb More, the first president of the Scheduled Castes Federation of Marathwada, organised the first Makranpur Parishad on December 30, 1938.
Dr Ambedkar spoke at the conference and asked the people not to support the princely state of Hyderabad under which much of central Maharashtra then fell, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Pravin More, Bhausaheb's son.
"When Bhausaheb stood up to speak, he said every community has its own deity and they greet each other using the name of that deity. Dr Ambedkar showed us the path of progress, and he is like God to us. So henceforth, we should say 'Jai Bhim' while meeting each other. The people responded enthusiastically. A resolution accepting 'Jai Bhim' as the community's slogan was also passed," More told PTI.
"My father came in contact with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his early years. Bhausaheb was aware of the atrocities the Nizam state committed on Dalits. He told Ambedkar about these atrocities, including the pressure to convert. Dr Ambedkar was strongly against these atrocities, and he decided to attend the 1938 conference," he said.
As Ambedkar was against the princely states, he was banned from giving speeches in the Hyderabad state but was allowed to travel through its territories. The Shivna river formed the border between Hyderabad and British India. Makranpur was chosen as the venue for the first conference because it was on the banks of Shivna but lay in the British territory, ACP More said.
The stage made of bricks, from where Dr Ambedkar addressed the conference, still stands. The conference is organised on December 30 every year to carry forward Ambedkar's thought, and the tradition was not discontinued even in 1972 when Maharashtra experienced one of the worst droughts in it history.
"My grandmother pledged her jewellery for the conference expenses. People from Khandesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada attended it. Despite a ban imposed by the Nizam's police, Ambedkar's followers crossed the river to attend the event," said ACP More.
"This is the 87th year of Makranpur Parishad. We have deliberately retained the venue as it helps spread Ambedkar's thought in rural areas," he added.
_vb_69.jpeg)