22 May, 2007
NEW DELHI: Moving from regret over the purification
ceremony at the Krishna temple in Guruvayur
after a visit by Vayalar Ravi's son and grandson,
the Union minister said his family was contemplating
legal action.
Ravi, minister for overseas Indian affairs,
said he was "humiliated, insulted and felt
sad" and alleged that the temple priests
continued to discriminate on the basis of caste.
The minister and his family was at the temple
on Saturday for the rice- feeding ritual of
his grandson, Rajiv Krishna. After the ceremony,
the head priest told reporters that a purification
ceremony would have to be held as the temple
was barred for non-Hindus. The priest is said
to have objected to the minister's son who he
said was not a Hindu.
An angry Ravi told TOI, "As a priest, he
has the right to decide on temple rituals. Who
is he to decide whether I or my son are Hindu
or not? We believe in the Guruvayur temple and
I went there to pray. I learnt later that the
priest had objected to our presence."
Ravi said he was accompanied by several people
but not his wife, who is a Christian. "I
come from a community of untouchables and we
had to struggle for several years before the
temples were opened for us. Then too, it was
this priest's family who had objected to our
entering the temple. It is a sad commentary
that nothing has changed in so many years,"
the minister said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2065691.cms
Ravi added, "My son is looking at legal
options. I will confer with him and we will
decide whether to take this matter to court
or not."
