While the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has been trying every trick in the book to take over the Chidambaram Nataraja temple, no action has been taken against the church that discriminates against ‘Dalit Christians’. Despite filing multiple complaints, they continue to face prejudice from the church and fellow Christians. They accuse the church of using a separate hearse vehicle for ‘Dalits’ and denying access to the church’s burial ground.

The 110-year-old Mary Magdalene Church in Kottapalayam village in Trichy was in the news a few months ago when SC Hindus who converted to Christianity accused fellow Christians of discriminating against them based on their caste since its inception. They lamented that they were not allowed to participate in church festivals and the car doesn’t come to their street during the annual festival. Alleging that they are not even considered as parishioners and they said that they were denied access to the community hall to conduct events.

Complaints were filed with the police, local administration and the higher authorities of the church hierarchy. But no action was forthcoming from any quarters. When some organisations got involved and escalated the issue with the Chief Secretary of the TN government, he directed the district collector to resolve it. Priests and other Christians claimed to the Collector that they assumed that ‘Dalit Christians’ won’t have enough money to pay the tax which is why they didn’t collect it from them. They assured that the tax will be collected from them henceforth and that the Maamandram(forum) will be reformed with ‘Dalit Christians’ as members to take decisions on church affairs.

Since then there have been many issues of ‘Dalits’ allegedly not being allowed to enter temples. They garnered all the media attention with debates for a week in which Hindu beliefs were denigrated by every party. The government sealed two temples and reopened one of them after threatening people with cases if they don’t comply. It is to be noted that in both cases the accused have claimed that the temples were built by their community for their family deities and belong to them.

Since DMK assumed power the government has been targeting the Chidambaram Nataraja temple by piling up accusations on Pothu Dikshitars, hereditary custodians of the temple. In the past few days, they were targeted again for placing a restriction on devotees as a crowd control measure during the annual festival. Citing this the HRCE minister said that Dikshitars have ‘occupied’ the temple and his department is ‘collecting evidence’ to take over the temple under its control.

Considering this the ‘Dalit Christian’ issue should have gained as much attention, but alas it didn’t. Except for a couple of portals no media even reported it. As per a Times of India report, 540 ‘Dalit Christian’ families in the village are treated as untouchables. They are not allowed to even touch the statues of saints during the annual festival and the church does not accept any financial contribution or subscription from them as “it could pollute their customs”. The church maintains two separate cemeteries for ‘Dalit Christians’ and other Christians. While others, around 100 families, have a 3-acre plot to bury their dead, ‘Dalit Christians’ are given only a 20-cent land parcel as a cemetery. 

“When Dalits die, the dead bodies are not allowed inside the church for the final funeral mass or prayer unlike in the case of dominant caste Catholics. We have given oral and written appeals to the bishop of the Kumbakonam diocese, and local revenue authorities. Nobody had taken any action for removing such caste-based untouchability,” said J Doss Prakash, a resident of the village.

The New Indian Express’s correspondent visited Kottapalayam village and reported the ground reality. Talking to the correspondent Doss Prakash said, “The church and the Kumbakonam diocese are well aware of the problems. Yet, they are reluctant to take action. No priest ever took action to eradicate untouchability in Kottapalayam. In 2011 we had a priest from the Dalit community but he succumbed to pressure to deliver any change. The incumbent priest tried to invite all the Dalit Christians in the seven villages surrounding the church for last year’s annual festival but the dominant community members forced him to withdraw the invitation”.

The parish priest said that he was forced to print new invitations for the annual festival without the names of ‘Dalit Christians’. “We are trying to bring in the required change. If government officials are planning to take action to eradicate the discrimination, the church would support it,” he told TNIE. Government authorities on the other hand have denied receiving any complaints about discrimination in the church. One can see how authorities deny plausibility while the church deflects responsibility in ensuring equality unlike their eagerness to ‘reform’ Hindu dharma.

The secular state, especially the pro-Christian DMK government, would never dare seal or take over a church for such a social issue. But it is important to bring this to the attention of secular Hindus who think the government taking over temples is in their interest.