News Tamil Nadu

Watch: Converted Dalit Christians in Tirunelveli vandalize Hindu temple, harass temple priests and locals

August 8, 2021
The Commune

A video has emerged in which a converted Dalit Christian man can be seen harassing the temple priests of the Sangili Boothathar Temple at Akkasalai Vinayagar Kovil Street in Tirunelveli, and stopping them from painting the walls of the temple.

In a post shared on social media, it was said that a few converted Dalit Christians namely Johnson, Lenin Mary and Simon barged into the temple premises and rubbed off the limestone and ‘kaavi’ (traditional paint) on the walls of the temple.

The temple is said to belong to the Vishwakarma community and the Dalit Christian family were reportedly running a shop on the land belonging to a temple and rented out to them.

In the video, the man wearing a pink shirt (a Dalit Christian) can be seen abusing the priests of the temple and saying that the land is under dispute with a case pending in the court and hence they can’t paint the temple which the priests deny. The priest and another local can be heard asking “What are you doing inside a Hindu temple? What business do you have here?” questioning the man’s audacity to enter a Hindu temple and create ruckus. The converted Christian man further goes on to make rhetorical statements like ‘You have been oppressing the minorities and making them as slaves’ and asks from whom the priests got permission to paint the temple. “This is our temple. Why should we ask permission? Is this your dad’s temple? We don’t need to ask any permission to paint our temple.” respond the temple priests.

As the sharp exchange of words goes on, another man and a lady can be seen washing off the paint of the temple wall.

This video is now widely getting circulated on social media with netizens severely condemning the behaviour of the converted Christians.

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