Demanding return of Sabarimala temple, Adivasis oppose "Brahminical" control

Counterview Desk
Ten Adivasi organizations, even as insisting that Sabarimala has been an Adivasi place of worship, have said that as per the Forest Rights Act (FRA), Adivasis have the community rights for their places of worship, adding, "The control of the Brahminical priests on Sabarimala has violated these rights of the Adivasis."
Taking the controversy on the Kerala temple to a qualitatively new level, these organizations -- National Adivasi Andolana, Rajya Moola Adivasi Vedike, Budakattu Krishikara Sangha Kodagu, Budakattu Krishikara Sangha Mysore, Budakkatu Krishikara Sangha Periyapatna Taluk Mysore, Budakattu Krishikara Sangha Chickmagalore, Rajya Soliga Abhivruddi Sangha, Hassan Jilla Adivasi Hasalara Sangha, Iruliga Kshemabhivruddi Sangha and Bettakurubara Paramparika Sangha -- have demanded that Sabarimala Temple be returned to the Adivasis.

Text of the statement:

We the following Adivasi organisations hereby express our deep concern on the recent developments and controversies about the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The social, political and economic interests of the upper caste communities on Sabarimala Temple are well noticed by us.We hereby wish to express our need to retain our following rights that have been denied for generations.
Many Adivasi spiritual places have been colonized by the upper castes replacing Adivasi spiritual leaders by Brahminical priests all over India. Sabarimala is only one such case. We demand that the ownership of such spiritual places of worship be returned to the Adivasis.
As per the Forest Rights Act, Adivasis have the community rights for their places of worship. The control of the Brahminical priests on Sabarimala has violated these rights of the Adivasis. We demand that Sabarimala Temple be returned to the Adivasis.
Historically, Sabarimala has been an Adivasi place of worship. It was only in the year 1902 that the Brahmin Tantris took control of this place of worship. Before that, as per the historical records, Adivasi priests were conducting the spiritual affairs in Sabarimala. We would like to bring to your notice that if anybody talks about the tradition of Sabarimala, the real tradition of Adivasis should be addressed. The tradition cannot be addressed from the date of colonising Sabarimala by the Brahminical forces.
As per the Adivasi traditions, we do not say that no woman can enter our places of worship. Not just women, people from all faiths and religions have also been allowed to express their worship to our Gods. Our Gods are not owned by any secluded sections with their own selfish economic, social and political interests. As far as gender equality is concerned, we are far superior to the mainstream caste ridden, middle class societies. We hereby support the demands of women in Kerala to enter Sabarimala temple.
We appeal to all sections of the civil society to see to it that narrow and selfish political gains in the name of God by the Sang Parivar forces and the soft Sangh Parivar forces be isolated. Our Gods have been colonised by the mainstream for centuries. Now, we do not wish that the mainstream society create communal rifts and violence in the name of our Gods.
Spirituality is a right of every human being as per our tradition. Nobody should be restricted from his or her right to spirituality. We condemn all those interests who use our spirituality in its distorted form and then create communal tensions in the society.
We are the children of forests. Sabarimala Forests are already getting weakened. Forests create rivers. Pampa river created by the Western Ghats is already polluted. Forests and rivers should not be destroyed in the name of Gods. The Adivasis have not done such destructive actions.
Today, the present controllers of Sabarimala temple must take this responsibility on their shoulders. Forests and rivers are sources of life for Adivasis. The sources of life provided by our Gods cannot be destroyed by the mainstream interests. We appeal to the Kerala State Government to undertake urgent measures to solve this burning problem.
We appeal to all those who believe in justice to support our call for the preservation of humanity, gender justice, protection of environment and equality of human beings without upper caste control.

Comments

Uma said…

Brahmins give up ANY temple?!?!

December 05, 2018

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

May the Earth Be Auspicious: Vedic ecology and contemporary crisis in Ashok Vajpeyi’s poetry

By Ravi Ranjan* Ashok Vajpeyi, born in 1941, occupies a singular position in contemporary Hindi poetry as a poet whose work quietly but decisively reorients modern literary consciousness toward ethical, ecological, and civilizational questions. Across more than six decades of writing, Vajpeyi has forged a poetic idiom marked by restraint, philosophical attentiveness, and moral seriousness, resisting both rhetorical excess and ideological simplification.

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

Search This Blog