A Dalit community’s generational wait to see god — and the backlash for breaking barriers

LES

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On March 12, Santwana Das, 45, climbed the 16 marble steps of the Shiva temple at Gidhagram in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district.

Unsure of how to approach the deity in the sanctum sanctorum, Santwana hesitantly looked at the priest performing the rituals, expecting approval. She got none. Instead, he repeatedly signalled for her to leave. But she mustered the courage, came closer to the deity, and sat down on the floor.As four women and a man, dressed in their finest, entered the freshly painted saffron temple, the otherwise quiet rural hamlet of Gidhagram became a fortress with the deployment of more than 100 police personnel. Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Ahinsa Jain was overseeing the arrangements. That Wednesday morning was a momentous occasion for Sashti Das, 45, who was among the five to enter the temple, which had been reconstructed in 1997. “This is a moment of joy for us that we got the right to pray to our god after centuries,” she said.