Nallirukkai SC villagers allege discrimination in temple festival rituals

About 15 families of Nallirukai village belonging to a Scheduled Caste community alleged discrimination in temple rituals and submitted a petition to Collector Simranjeet Singh Kahlon here on Monday.  

The petitioners alleged that other villagers who belonged to the same SC community were practising discrimination against the 15 families by not allowing them to be part of the temple festival rituals.  

B. Anna Rani, a villager, said the problem which began as a brief spat last year on temple festival accounts maintenance issue, had grown to the extent of excluding them from all village affairs. “Though the villagers represented the issue to the Collector and other officials in the district, no action was taken. Then, we filed a petition before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court for redressal. The court, too, on October 17, 2025, ordered for the inclusion of all villagers in the temple festival.”  

But in the initial stages of the temple festival last month, acting against the court order, other villagers began the festival preparations without consulting or including them, she further said. “We took the issue to the Uthirakosamangai police station seeking action against the villagers who acted against the court order. But the police inspector has not taken any action until now.”  

Now, as the temple festival was fast approaching, the villagers had moved the court again, but the petitioners sought immediate intervention of the district administration on the issue.  

“In addition to this, other villagers have also instructed our children to stay away from their children,” she alleged.  

M. Booma Devi, another villager, said the issue had caused immense mental pressure on the excluded villagers.  “When we live peacefully in a village with all other communities and we are subjected to discrimination by the very community to which we belong is very disturbing and painful.”