Published Jan 04, 2024 | 3:05 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 04, 2024 | 3:06 PM
C Divakaran. (Wikimedia)
A senior Left leader and former Kerala minister C Divakaran has alleged that he was subjected to acute casteism in the state and claimed it led to his electoral defeat years ago.
This is not the first instance in Kerala, where a leader from a marginalised community spoke of caste discrimination.
In September 2023, Kerala’s Devaswom Minister and the CPI(M)’s chief Dalit face, K Radhakrishnan spoke of the discrimination he faced at a temple where, the priest didn’t hand over the small lamp to the minister, due to his caste identity.
He said the incident occurred in January 2023.
Divakaran, a CPI leader who had held the civil supplies portfolio in the VS Achuthanandan, charged that the Secretariat, the state’s power centre, is the first nerve centre of upper-class dominance in Kerala.
He made the revelation while speaking at a book release event at the Press Club in Thiruvananthapuram recently.
“I have fought four elections and won three of them. The reason for my debacle in the fourth election was acute casteism,” he said.
The ex-minister said he had heard the voters talking about his caste during the election campaign. They were seen asking each other whether he belonged to their caste, he added.
Divakaran said he was sure that he would not taste success in that election.
The Left leader further raised allegations against the Secretariat and said that it was the first nerve centre of upper-class supremacy in the state.
“Nothing can be done. If anything is done against the whims of certain people there, they will blackmail us and end our public life,” he further alleged.
Certain people in society still believed that they were destined to serve upper-class people, the former minister said, without referring to anyone.
Radhakrishnan earlier said: “When I was attending a temple function for the inauguration of its newly-constructed facilities, the temple’s chief priest came to me with a lamp for lighting. I thought the lamp was meant for me, but he (the chief priest) did not hand it to me. He went and lit the lamp himself. I kept away, assuming that it was part of the ritual at that temple.”
“The chief priest then handed over the light to the assistant priest. I thought the light would be handed over to me after that, but they did not give it to me. Instead, they placed the light on the floor. They (priests) thought I would take up the light and kindle the lamp. Should I pick it? I told them to mind their business.”
Elaborating on the incident at the temple, Radhakrishnan said that the priests showed no discrimination towards the money he and others like him donated to the temple.
“There is no discrimination towards the money offered by the poor at the temple — I said this in the presence of that chief priest,” he said.
Radhakrishnan also ruled out any possibility of initiating legal proceedings against those who discriminated against him, based on his caste.
This, even though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on 19 September, termed the incident “shocking”, and promised follow-up action.
When contacted by South First earlier, Radhakrishnan said he spoke of the issue so that he may change the perspective of people rather than create a controversy. He also advised those who followed him not to protest against the temple authorities.
Radhakrishnan also slammed the caste system in Hinduism and said that those who created it had a clear agenda: “To keep people divided.”
Though the minister continued to protect the identity of the priests and the concerned temple, Malayalam television channels telecast visuals of the inauguration of the “nada pandal” at the Nambyathra Kovval Shiva temple in Payyannur in northern Kannur district, in which the minister was the chief guest.
It could be seen in the visuals that the priests were not handing over the small lamp to the minister and instead placed it on the floor.
(With PTI inputs)
