The Orissa High Court was hearing a PIL filed seeking protection for Dalits for their entry into the Jagannath temple at Keredagada in Kendrapara District.
"Every Hindu, irrespective of his caste, has a right to enter any Hindu temple which is open to other persons professing the same religion," a division bench of Chief Justice Sujit Burman Roy and Justice M M Das observed.
But will it change the mindset of some Hindus who are totally ignorant of the teaching of Hinduism. Caste System today prevails in the mind of the people. Unfortunately, there is no method to clean the mindset of such people.
The caste system is monstrous. There are numerous laws against it in India
Every day we have discussions taking place on dalit atrocities. We have numerous political parties who advertise as saviors of dalits. But nothing has changed. Successive governments, political parties and the mainstream media have failed in protecting the dalits and in doing away with the caste system.
I feel primary education is the key to solving this problem. Educate the dalits. Make sure that each dalit studies up to 10th standard. Produce dalit students who can get admission in colleges and IITs without the help of reservation system.
Create cooperative societies which can provide jobs to dalits. Create societies for women which can economically empower them. Create temples of dalit Shiva and dalit Krishna . Appoint dalits as priests there. (A great reformer named Shri Narayana Guru had symbolically done this in Kerala.)
What we need is action on the ground. Only by economically empowering the dalits can there be any drastic change made.
(A part of the article was earlier written by me in comment to a blog.)