A transformational event for Dalit women of Musahar community

 

 

Varanasi, Mar 31: Despite the freedom of entry into the temple guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the members of the Dalit community are still hesitant to enter any temple on their own. No leader worth his salt has ever inspired them to enter the temple and offer worship and have the ‘darshan’ of their deity.

With the joint initiative of Rampath and Vishal Bharat Sansthan, a history of sorts was scripted today when a group of Dalit women belonging to Musahar, Dharkar, etc. castes, entered the Kashi Vishwanath temple and offered worship and had ‘darshan’ of Lord Vishwanath.

And this revolutionary event happened under the leadership of senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar and Dr. Rajiv ‘Sriguruji’, Panthacharya of Rampanth on Thursday. These women got the chance for the first time in their life to convey the message of equality, fraternity and love, and peace from the corridor of ‘Baba Vishwanath’ the presiding deity of Varanasi.

These women of Musahar Basti were preparing for this day for the last 15 days. They were so excited about the idea that they gathered their friends and acquaintances from and nearby Kashi area and finally, 51 of them including some men gathered at the premises of Vishal Bharat Sansthan with chants of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Jai Siyaram’ renting the sky. They began their march to ‘see and meet their god’ in a historic event.

Entry to the temple was not prohibited but none of these people was ready to venture as they had their own doubts and reservations. But they very much wanted to visit and see the newly built corridor ever since they heard about it. When they expressed their wish to Indresh Kumar, he, in turn, instructed the Vishal Bharat Sansthan and Rampanth activists to arrange for their ‘darshan’.

This was a miraculously wonderful moment for these Dalit sisters and brothers of the Musahar community. When Jaunpur’s Kishan Banvasi came out of the temple after offering puja to Lord Vishwanath he could not resist his emotions and tears started rolling down his cheeks in ecstasy and happiness. In an emotionally choked voice, he asked why the Musahar people were kept away from ‘Baba’ so long. We are fortunate today. We and our Musahar community will be ever indebted to Indresh Kumar and Dr. Rajiv Guruji.

 

This happens to be the first such event of Independent India where women of the Dalit and Minority communities have entered the Baba Vishwanath temple led by Indresh Kumar and Rajiv Guruji. Mahant Awadh Kishor Das led the sant samaj of Kashi.

Seeing the beautifully constructed corridor these women showered their blessings on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making the temple so beautiful and said that the Dalit community will be indebted to him forever.

In his message Indresh Kumar said this is the beginning of a revolution of social harmony and equality when the slogans of “Gaon Gaon se chalo Vishwanath Darbar” will echo from the villages and Dalit, Janjatiy samaj will march to Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura for ‘darshan’ and ‘pujan’ and will spread the culture in the world.

President of Vishal Bharat Sansthan and Panthacharya of Rampanth Dr. Rajiv Sriguruji said that the Dalit community is known as ‘Dharma Rakshak’ in the Sanatan tradition. Some women and daughters of the Dalit community were disconnected from Baba Vishwanath and Prabhu Sri Ram by some anti-India elements. Today’s event has negated that disconnect. Baba Vishwanath belongs to all.

Former MLA of Kerakat Vidhan Sabha Dinesh Chaudhary said that this is a transformational event in the life of the Dalit community which inspires them to have darshan of God.

Lakshmina Devi of the Dalit community and Kishan Banvasi of the Musahar community led their respective groups respectively while Najneen Ansari led the Muslim women.

Archana Bharatvamshi, Najma, Parveen, Ili Bharatvamshi, Poonam, Sunita, Archana, Priyanka, Parvati, Usha, Nirmala, Hiramani, Lalti, Suman, Savita, Dhansera, Nitu, Kishuna, Shyamdulari, Vidya Devi, Prabhavti, Urmila, Gita. Saroj, Ramta, Shila, Gyan Prakash, Suraj Chaudhary, Rajesh, and others were present on this occasion.