There was high vigil in Karnataka’s Kalaburgi district on Dussehra day on Wednesday following the Dalit Sena’s announcement that if the effigy of Ravan is burnt, the effigy of Sri Ram would also be set on fire.

The Dalit Sena is opposing the organisation of Ravan dahan programme in which effigy of Ravan would be burnt on the occasion of the Vijaya Dashami (Dussehra).

Police said that Hindu groups have organised burning of a 50-foot tall Ravan effigy in the premises of the Appa Jatra Grounds in Kalaburagi.

Dalit organisations have objected to it and claimed that the programme is being held without permission from the authorities. They have further warned that they will burn the effigy of Sri Ram, if Hindu activists burn Ravan’s effigy.

In light of the stiff resistance, the Hindu organisations have dropped the programme burning of the effigy of Ravan and will celebrate other rituals.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with minor edits to conform to HinduPost style-guide.)

Editor’s Note

Hateful falsehoods peddled by Christian missionary front outfits like Forward Press that twist Hindu Dharma and the itihaas and tales of our deities have been tacitly encouraged by the Nehruvian secular state and allowed to go unchecked. As a result, we today have foreign-backed organizations masquerading as ‘Dalit’/’tribal’ rights groups that openly spread falsehoods like Ravana was a ‘Dalit icon’, or that Maa Durga was a ‘sex worker who tricked and killed Mahishasura’, in guise of alternative narratives or social justice.

The fact is that Ravana was a grandson of the great sage Pulastya, one of the Saptarishis. He was a scholar who knew Vedas and other shastras; he was a devotee of Bhagwan Shiv and had won many boons. Yet, he allowed his dark side and his ego to get the better of him and went down the path of Adharma which made him a Rakshasa (approximately translates as demonic).

Many janjati/vanvasi communities in Bharat have their own beautiful belief systems and deities, which exist harmoniously as part of the large Dharmic family of multiple sampradayas. There is no logical reason for them to claim that the asuras/rakshasas of Hindu texts are their heroes, because these communities already have their own revered deities and symbols, besides sharing many inter-connected traditions with other Hindus from their region.

Divisive and hateful ideas are being planted and propagated by those who harbor hate for Hindu Dharma and Bharat. These elements want to engulf Hindu society in sectarian conflicts, and they have found willing collaborators in ‘secular’ politics and feudal clan-based political parties that only care about grabbing power.

It is downright shocking and a travesty that Hindu festivals are being attacked, distorted and demeaned openly in some guise or the other. Hindus are the glue that have held this Republic together – but the time for tolerating such shenanigans is over.