Priest arrested for stopping Dalit from entering temple gets bail, warm welcome

A video of Shankar Pujari’s welcome went viral on social media and showed women touching his feet as he waved

Published on: Mar 7, 2022, 16:17:37 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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Bhopal: Residents of Temla in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone took out a procession to welcome priest Shankar Pujari after he was released on bail on Monday days after he was arrested for preventing a 31-year-old Dalit woman from entering a temple on March 1. A video of Pujari’s welcome went viral on social media and showed women touching his feet as he waved.

Pujari and two women were booked under the Indian Penal Code’s Section 505 (2), which relates to creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill will and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for preventing Pooja Khande, the Dalit woman, from entering the temple.

Khande refused to talk on this issue but her relative Rakesh Khande said their family was pressurised to hush up but they mustered courage and reported the matter. “...this warm welcome has hurt our sentiments.”

District police superintendent Siddharth Chaudhary said they have deployed 12 police personnel near the house of the Khandes. “The complainant is not under any fear. I have asked the local police station to inquire about the welcome of the priest to check whether they used any discriminatory words and abusive language or not. Action will be taken as per the inquiry report.”

Dalit rights activist Manoj Parmar said they have for long been facing atrocities and insults. “When we talk about our rights, we are harassed by both the administration and the upper caste community. Pooja, who was fighting for her rights and was vocal on the first day of the incident, is now not ready to even talk because of fear.”

Jai Adiwasi Yuva Sangathan convener Anand Rai said by welcoming the priest and creating noise in the village, the villagers wanted to give the message that nothing is going to change. “They have no regret. The scheduled caste community members in the village are afraid of them.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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