Sanctity of temple is not so fragile as to be endangered by presence of those who live modestly in nearby slum: Karnataka High Court

The sanctity of a temple is not so fragile as to be endangered by the presence of the Creator’s children who, by accident of circumstance, live modestly besides it in a slum, said the High Court of Karnataka.

“What deeply wounds the conscience of the court are the contentions advanced by the temple samiti, which lamentably contended that the mere presence of slum dwellers around the hallowed precincts of the temple erodes its sanctity and serenity and offends the religious sentiments of countless devotees,” the court observed.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna made these observations while dismissing a petition filed by devotees of Kalikamba temple in Mandya questioning the declaration of 20 guntas of land adjacent to the temple as a slum under the Karnataka Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1973.

Apalling assertion

The statement made in writing by the Kalikamba Seva Samiti “proclaims that slum dwellers are lesser beings, bereft of the right to devotion, right to shelter and a right to dwell besides a place of worship,” the court said, while observing that “such an assertion [by the samiti], in this enlightened age, is appalling.”

“The notion that the divine aura of a temple could be diminished by the proximity of humble homes or sullied by the entry of a slum dweller bespeaks a mindset steeped in prejudice and exclusion. This court cannot but observe that such a stance is an attempt to rend society asunder along the lines of caste, class, or creed,” the court observed.

No gradation of worth

In a nation where the Constitution enshrines equality for all, every citizen, be they be exalted or downtrodden, affluent or impoverished, is vested with the same fundamental rights, the court said, while pointing out that “equality does not admit gradations of worth; it encompasses the entirety of our citizenry.”

“If India has to endure as a nation of the first order, it cannot consign any of its citizens to a second class existence. The dignity of slum dwellers is no less sacred that of the devout. The rights of one cannot be secured by the suppression of the other. The Constitution knows no hierarchy of human worth, all are equal before its gaze,” the court observed.