Bengaluru, September 17: Jnanaprakash Swamiji of Urilingapeddi Mutt of Mysuru said that the astrologers and purohits who create fear among people by making religious feelings as their capital were the real terrorists of the country.

Speaking at the 139th jayanti of Dravidian cultural thinker Periyar Ramaswami, organised by the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (samatavada) at Cubbon Park here on Monday, he said that making the religious beliefs as their weapon, the astrologers and purohits have been exploiting the people creating fear among them and they were the real terrorists of the country.  Along with this, with the slogan 'Bharat mata ki jai', the country was being divided, he said.

Cheating hymns

"During marriage, we bring Mangalasutram. But the purohits say 'mangalyam tantu nanenah' which means purohit would tie the Mangalasutram to the bride. In the same way, after tying the Mangalasutram, another sanskrit hymn says 'after making your wife to sleep with Indra, Agni, Varuna and Kubhera, you have sleep with her. This was taken from the Vivah samhita of Manusmriti, which is a cheating, he said.

Swami Vivekananda had said that 'dont go to temple in search of god. God is in the heart of the poor. But politics was being done in the name of religion and exploited in the name of castes. The situation in the country was opposite to what the philosophers and social reformers said, he said.

Periyar was questioning those who were exploiting the people by making their ignorance and their faith on the god as tool. He advocated his ideologies the basis of rationality, he said.

There was no use if temples were constructed thinking that the god would come and protect the exploited. Dr Ambedkar, Periyar, Pile, Vasava na and others have toiled for the welfare of the exploited in the society. They had brought them the self respect, education and reservation. So, the exploited, poor and the Dalit should be their followers, he said.

Senior high court advocate C Jagadish, Periyar thinker Kalai Selvi, H Hadappa of DSS and others were present.

 

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Shivpuri (MP) (PTI): A 30-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by the sarpanch and seven others over a land dispute in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district, an official said on Wednesday.

Narad Jatav was fatally attacked on Tuesday evening after he and his maternal uncle objected to a road created through their land to a hotel belonging to the sarpanch, Padam Dhakad, in Indergarh village, the official said. The accused, including Dhakad's sons and wife, are on the run.

Following the dispute over the road, Narad allegedly removed the water supply line from a common borewell to the hotel. Dhakad and his family then beat him with sticks and killed him, Kotwali police station in-charge Kripal Singh Rathore said.

Jatav’s family protested in the medical college where his body was taken for autopsy, demanding the registration of a first information report (FIR) against the accused, he said.

Later, police pacified them and registered a murder case against the sarpanch and his other family members, including his wife and sons, Rathore said.

The eight accused persons are absconding and efforts are being made to nab them, he added.

Condemning the murder, former chief minister Kamal Nath wrote on X, “A Dalit youth was beaten to death with sticks in Indergarh of Shivpuri. After this murder in broad daylight, it has been proved once again that Dalits are not safe in Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

There is not a single day when an incident of atrocity on Dalits does not occur in the state, said the Congress leader.

“Under the BJP rule, the audacity of bullies is increasing and it has become their habit to oppress the Dalits and tribals,” he wrote on the social media platform.

Nath also demanded special arrangements to ensure the safety of Dalits and tribals in MP.