Inhuman to ask people to take off clothes while entering temples: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
CM addresses Narayanaguru Jayanthi program in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister has criticized the system in certain temples asking devotees to take off their clothes before entering temples, calling it an act of injustice and also an inhuman practice, observed under the pretext of respecting God.
Siddaramaiah, who spoke after inaugurating the Brahmashri Narayanaguru Jayanthi program organized by the Department of Kannada and Culture at the Ravindra Kalakshetra in the city on Thursday, said, "We are all equal in the eyes of the Almighty. It is inhuman to ask a person to enter a temple only after taking off one's clothes. Such acts of inequality and discrimination, which are performed under the pretext of worshipping God but are giving rise to caste and religion conflicts, are insults to the Almighty."
Speaking about the social reforms undertaken by Narayanaguru, Siddaramaiah said that there was discrimination and conflict between religions and castes during the seer's time too, just as there are today, but Narayanaguru brought about a change in the society and its thinking style without leading to conflict. A perverse attitude that causes conflicts in the name of religion and caste by using worship of God as a pretext still exists, he opined.
"Narayanaguru found a way of worship that was free from any sort of discrimination. He told the people, do not attempt to visit a temple that denies you entry. Build temples in honour of your deities and worship them. As a result of the social revolution undertaken by Narayanaguru, as many as 60 new temples were built in Kerala. He also opened the temples he had built for people belonging to the lower castes, who were not permitted to enter other temples," pointed out Siddaramaiah, adding, "Narayanaguru also gave a lot of importance to education of the lower castes, stressing that it was a way to gain independence and strengthening the communities."
The Chief Minister opined that the social reformer cannot be said to belong to a particular caste or community, instead, he was a man of the world, who surpassed caste, creed and religion. "We therefore request the Union government to take the initiative of observing Narayanaguru Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the 'Vishwamanava'," he urged.
He assured that the requests of the people to the state government, to set up an 'Arya Eediga Development Corporation' and the construction of a hall, 'Narayanaguru Bhavana', will soon be fulfilled.
Pontiff of the Soloor Arya Adiga Mahasamsthana, Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Thangadagi, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, MLA Gopalakrishna Belur and Arya Adiga Samaja president Dr. M Thimmegowda present on the occasion.
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
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Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
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Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
