A security guard of the Sri Subramania Swamy Temple at Tiruchendur was reportedly attacked by one of the priests working at the temple, the video of which has surfaced on social media and local news channels.
The act caught on CCTV camera reportedly happened after a heated exchange between the priest and security guard over a petty issue.
At the Tiruchendur Subramania Swamy Temple, there exists separate queues for ‘free darshan’ and ‘special darshan’. Those with special darshan tickets and VIPs proceed directly through the main gate skipping the serpentine queues which also joins the main gate. On October 30, a judge had come to have a darshan of the Lord through special darshan. When the priest Jeyamalini Kumar had gone to fetch the keys to open the special darshan gate, the security guard had stopped and asked him to get permission from higher authorities. This had resulted in an altercation between the two with the priest losing cool and hitting the guard.
In the CCTV footage, the priest can be seen pushing and hitting the guard while another priest and a police try to stop the two from fighting.
However, a report published by The News Minute twisted the incident into a caste issue saying that a ‘Brahmin’ priest hit a ‘Dalit’ security guard. Though the article mentions about the petty issue over which the altercation happened, it repeatedly emphasizes on the caste identities of the two persons to imply that the guard was hit because he was a Dalit. Also, while it goes on to say how the ‘Brahmin’ priest hit a ‘Dalit’ security guard, it does not stress on the ‘Brahmin’ identity of another priest who tried to stop the two from fighting.
The report also paints a one-sided picture through the words of a man belonging to Thol. Thirumavalavan’s Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). Quoting VCK’s Thoothukudi District Secretary Murasu, it goes on to cast aspersions on the go without substantiating saying that the priest’s act showed the casteist mindset and also levels allegation that the priest had used casteist slurs on a lot of people and also hit another man earlier ‘for using the temple space’ apparently telling him that it was meant for upper castes.
Speaking to The Commune one of the priests at the temple who wished to remain unidentified said that the fight between the two was over a petty issue and that there was no caste angle to it. He said that it was wrong on the part of the priest to have lost his temper and hit the security guard but added that it was a matter of ego clash and a momentary flare up of emotions. “Nobody is justifying what the priest did. It was wrong of him to hit the guard. However, there is no caste angle to this as reported in one report. It is just a matter of ego clash”, the priest said.
Another priest making the same observations said that the two made peace later and the issue was sorted.
When asked about the VCK intervening in the matter and filing a complaint with the police to charge the priest under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, he noted that they are unwarrantedly politicizing the matter when there is nothing to politicize.
Thus, it is apparent that the The News Minute and the VCK are trying to foment caste troubles and furthering a divisive narrative by making a mountain out of a mole hill considering that the VCK head Thol. Thirumavalavan has been facing public ire over his comments on Hinduism and women.
Many on social media called out the news outlet for unnecessarily distorting an individual fight into a caste issue while others bought the story that was published and spewed the usual rhetoric against one particular community.
The Commune found that the said priest Jayamalini Kumar along with the temple Thakkar and other archakas was earlier charged in 2013 for intimidating and threatening to kill a temple official Ganesan. One of the priests who The Commune spoke to also said that the Jeyamalini Kumar often brings people known to him through the special darshan queue much to the annoyance of others. “Many of the priests do so. This needs to be kept in check.”, the priest who did not wish to be named said.