"You May Be the President, But Still an Unwelcome Devotee"
indialegalsolutions17@gmail.comBy Adv Mangesh Dhumal
In March 2018, news broke that President Ram Nath Kovind, the First Citizen of India, was allegedly obstructed from entering the sanctum of the Jagannath Temple, Puri. The denial, though later disputed by temple authorities, raises a deeper constitutional and moral question: Can any devotee, whether a person from deprived classes, a foreign Hindu, or even the President, be barred from the house of God?
The Supreme Court, while hearing petitions on the management of the Jagannath Temple, did not take suo motu cognizance of this denial. It merely asked: “Can non-Hindus be allowed if they respect the dress code and rituals?” But the Court refrained from giving a decisive ruling. What emerged was little more than an unfruitful obiter dictum.
This silence reflects judicial hesitation in balancing Articles 25 and 26 (freedom of religion and management of religious affairs) against Articles 14, 15 and 21 (equality, non-discrimination, and dignity). By not stepping in, even when the First Citizen of the nation, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, was symbolically excluded, the Court allowed orthodoxy to prevail over constitutional morality.
Temple denial is not merely ritual; for persons from deprived classes and members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, it amounts to a criminal offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Section 3(1)(b) makes it an offence if any person “denies a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe the right of access to a place of public worship or obstructs them from using it in the same manner as is available to others.” The punishment ranges from six months to five years of imprisonment, along with a fine. Thus, what may appear to priests as “ritual purity” is, in law, nothing short of an atrocity when used to humiliate persons from deprived classes.
History shows how often this exclusion has repeated itself. In 1930, at the Kala Ram Mandir in Nashik, B. R. Ambedkar and his followers were denied entry because of caste, a turning point that convinced him caste orthodoxy was irreformable. In 1934, at the Jagannath Temple in Puri, Mahatma Gandhi was refused entry when he arrived with persons from deprived classes, Muslims and Christians; only Kasturba Gandhi was permitted inside. In 1984, at the same temple, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was barred because she had married a Parsi guy. In the early 2000s, Elizabeth Jigler, a Swiss Christian devotee who had donated generously, was denied entry despite her devotion. In 2005, a princess of Thailand, a practicing Hindu but officially Buddhist, was stopped at the gates. And in 2018, the President of India himself faced a similar symbolic exclusion.
The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion but equally bars discrimination. Article 14 secures equality before the law. Article 15(2)(b) prohibits denial of access to public places. Article 17 abolishes untouchability in any form. The Jagannath Temple, like many shrines, is under statutory and administrative regulation. Its denial practices therefore carry the weight of discrimination under constitutional scrutiny.
The Supreme Court in Sri Venkataramana Devaru v. State of Mysore (1958) held that denominational rights under Article 26 must yield to the fundamental right of entry under Article 25(2)(b). Yet, decades later, the same battles are still being fought.
If God is the omniscient and omnipresent Creator of the universe, how could He ever become “impure” by the touch or presence of a devotee? The truth is stark: God does not get impure. Only human thoughts do. The only impurity lies in minds that divide humanity, not in the presence of a devotee who bows in faith. Those who donate crores to temples are never asked whether their wealth was earned through corruption, exploitation or illegality. Yet, a person from deprived classes or a foreign Hindu is humiliated in the name of purity.
This forgotten history must not be erased. India must remember every act of exclusion, whether against Mahatma Gandhi, a Prime Minister, an ordinary person from a Scheduled Caste or Tribe, or even the nation’s President. When we allow such denials to fade from memory, we permit orthodoxy to rise above equality, hatred to stand above faith and ritual to dominate humanity.
If the First Citizen can be turned away at the temple gates, then every citizen remains vulnerable. A nation that forgets such wounds cannot heal. A faith that thrives on exclusion cannot claim divinity. And a Constitution that bows, or turns silent, before such orthodox evils ultimately loses its moral soul and dignity.
Awareness is our shield, reform is our duty and hope for justice is our eternal prayer.
An Article By - Adv. Mangesh Dhumal.