Dalits Worship Gandhi in Orissa

October 3, 2008 excerpt from a Indo-Asian News Service article:

Hundreds of people from various religions, communities and castes worshipped Mahatma Gandhi Thursday in Orissa.

Over 300 people thronged a temple and worshipped Mahatma Gandhi by offering flowers to his idol in Bhatra village located on the outskirts of Sambalpur town, about 300 km from here.

The Gandhi Mandir named after the Father of the Nation was built in 1974 by Dalit leader Abhimanyu Kumar and some local residents. It looks like a Hindu temple and is about 11 metres high. It houses a 1.7 metre high bronze idol of the Mahatma.

The Bhatra village has over 150 Dalit families and they worship the idol twice everyday, the way Hindus worship deities in temples. The temple also has a Dalit priest.

This is an example of the success of Gandhi propaganda, which generally preaches that he "ended untouchability." In reality, Gandhi deeply damaged the Dalit struggle for equality by fasting to deny them fair political representation, approving the stigma taboo on marrying or eating with Dalits, and overall staunchly defending the caste system. In fact, just last year the world-renowned Dalit leader Mayawati blamed Gandhi for India's ongoing caste problems, saying: "He divided Indian society into two categories - the weaker sections and upper castes."