Bajura, November 7

Dalit community at Pandusain VDC in Bajura participated in a puja with the non-Dalits for the first time in the district.

Local Dalits were allowed to attend a puja at Shreemadh Bhagawat Mahayagya organised in the VDC to raise funds for Satyabadi Pandusain High School.

CPN-UML leader Janak Kumar Bohora said the Dalits were included in the puja for the first time in the district.

Earlier, people belonging to the Dalit community were barred from entering temples and attending other religious functions though 50 per cent of the people living in Pandusain VDC are Dalits. Bohora added that the Dalits were invited to the religious function after discussions among local intellectuals and elderly citizens.

A local Dalit leader Mansur Luwar said earlier they were not allowed to attend any religious function organised in the villages. Luwar further said the Dalit community was elated after they were invited to the religious function. A teacher at the school, Janak Shahi, said the Dalits and non-Dalits of the district participated in the religious function.

Another Dalit leader Kashi BK said Pandusain VDC had set an example of inclusion and tolerance. “Dalits and non-Dalits offering prayers at the same place proves that peoples’ mentality can gradually change with time and awareness,” he added.

Some two years ago, a local Chhetri boy had thrashed a Dalit girl black and blue after she touched the Martadi-based Badimalika Temple.