The Shackles of Sanatan Secularism

The communal preparations for the so-called 'Vishnu Mahayagya' hit the family of Deepak Malik Dom of Aurahi Rural Municipality in Siraha District like a tonne of bricks.

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His house was demolished, and Dom's family home was uprooted because Bajrangi Baba, the organiser of the ritual, reportedly declared that the presence and movement of Dalits near the proposed venue of the performance would defile the ritual.

In line with the Sanatan tradition, the rural municipality chairman Shivaji Yadav, the temporal agent of the event, was duty-bound to implement the instructions of the religious authority.

Even the very layer of earth where Dom's house once stood was declared polluted and a bulldozer was employed to remove the 'impure soil' from the site. The media coverage of the odious practice created a public outcry, and the provincial authorities quickly apprehended the alleged perpetrators.