Kerala minister alleges discrimination during temple function; 'Tantri' says could be due to ignorance of priests

'Tantri' (main priest) of a temple at Kannur in Kerala has denied allegations of discrimination towards a Kerala minister during a function at the temple several months back.

Kerala devaswom minister and CPM senior leader K Radhakrishan, who is from a backward community, said the other day that he faced discrimination during a temple function several months back and he registered his protest at the venue itself.

Even as the minister did not mention the temple's name, 'tantri' of Nambiatrakovval Siva temple at Payyanur in Kannur denied the allegation.

Strongly condemning the incident, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that further action would be taken on the matter after discussing with the minister.

Speaking at a public function the other day the minister said that during a function at a temple the priests themselves lit the lamp during the inaugural function and placed the flame on the ground instead of handing it over to him. But he didn't take it as discrimination.

He also said that those who show caste based discrimination did not show any discrimination to the money being given by people.

'Tantri' of Nambiatrakovval siva temple Padmanabhan Unni told the media that there was no need for such discrimination towards anyone. It could be due to ignorance of the priests that such an unfortunate incident happened. He also said that even as the incident happened several months back he came to know about it only after the minister lamented over it the other day.

Radhakrishnan told reporters on Tuesday that even as Kerala made much progress in doing away with discriminations, casteism was still prevailing in the minds of some sections. But the Kerala society did not accept such discrimination. He also said that he did not want to initiate any legal actions on the incident, but only wanted to put an end to such discrimination.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress said that the caste based discrimination against a minister in Kerala was shocking. The minister should have reacted against it openly then itself and sought action against the temple priests.