CPI(M) leader condemns ‘sacred thread’ ceremony for Dalits

CPI(M)leader K. Balakrishnan. File 

CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan on Thursday criticised Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi for having participated in the “sacred thread” (poonool) ceremony for Dalits “organised by the RSS” on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Nandanar, one of the Saivite saints.

In a statement here, he said Nandanar was denied entry into the Chidambaram temple on the basis of his caste and was subsequently consigned to fire in the guise of allowing him into the sanctum sanctorum. 

“The Governor has expressed the ideas of casteism by offering ‘sacred threads’ to Dalits. It amounts to justifying the idea that one’s greatness is decided by his birth. It is an insult to Nandanar,” Mr Balakrishnan alleged.

According to him, by organising the event, the RSS and its supporters had sought to reiterate that the “thread is sacred” and it was against the Constitution that treated all as equal.