Watch: Dalit women denied entry to temple in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr
A clip showing a group of dalit women being denied entry to a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr is being probed by the police.
The incident, which is believed to have occured on 25th October, was recorded in a six minute long video, shot on a mobile phone by one of the women, which emerged on social media on Wednesday.
In the clip, a man sporting a black shirt can be seen standing in front of the gate, while women’s voices can be heard asking why he is afraid to allow them inside the temple. The man, seemingly from the upper caste, responds by saying, "Why should I be scared of you?" before turning away to speak to someone on his mobile phone.
"If someone listens to this thought (banning the entry of women), they will be ashamed," one of the women, retorts. Other voices can be heard saying that they had the right to worship and would not go away untill they were allowed in.
In 21st century India,a puported conversation caught on camera ,between SC women and upper caste man preventing temple entry in UP's Bulandshahr
— Alok Pandey (@alok_pandey) October 31, 2019
Man:go to some other temple
Women:why?if someone listens to this thought process,they will be ashamed
Man:aaraam se baat karo pic.twitter.com/yAvk7KGDDg
To this the man goes on to warn her: "Aaram se baat kar (speak politely)". "If you want to hit us, then hit us. But we will sit here... we will stay here," a woman responds.
"Why don't you kill us here? We will die here. Bring lathis... we will continue sitting here. We will not leave. Bring the whole village here. Let them see," another woman says.
The man, who is still on his phone, then tells the women that the temple belongs to thakurs, who are the upper caste.
"Why should I hit you? This property belongs to thakurs," he says, adding, "Thakurs and brahmins have been praying here for a long time," drawing angry reply from the women.
"This is a temple, a temple," one woman shouts.
Then as the camera zooms into the temple, a man wearing a white shirt can be seen walking towards that gate. Both men then stands in front of the gate and looks into their mobile phones, while the women demand entry inside the temple.
As the altercation continues the men become louder and forceful in their approach. The camera than moves to show al least 15 agitated women standing around the gate.
"These people used to pray here earlier but last week some men refused to allow them entry saying they would not be allowed because they were Dalits," Vijender Singh Valmiki, a community leader who complained to the police on behalf of the women, said.
"How long will discrimination like this continue... that too in this day and age? Do they want us to denounce Hinduism?" he added, alleging that some people were even assaulted.
The police had registered a case on 25 October, under the SC/ST act.
"In what appears to be a linked sequence of events, a video has gone viral. We are investigating and facts are being ascertained. We will act further in this case," Atul Shrivastava , a senior police officer in Bulandshahr district, said.
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First published: 31 October 2019, 14:55 IST