[Assam] From Hindustantimes :: How Racist we can be

[Nayanjyoti Medhi]

An American woman, Pamela K Fleig- denied entrance
Thailand's Crown Princess Sirindhorn - denied entrance
former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi- denied entrance

Atleast they don't bow before the high and mighty .


On 3/2/07, Malabika Brahma <malabikabrahma at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>   Food destroyed at Jagannath temple after foreigner's entry
>
> Indo-Asian News Service
>
> Bhubaneshwar, March 2, 2007
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a country where millions go to bed hungry, food worth Rs 1 million,
> meant for holy offering at Orissa's Jagannath temple was destroyed on Friday
> because a foreigner had entered the shrine, an act seen as defiling the
> premises.
>
> Priests at the temple in Puri, 56 km from here, also performed rituals to
> cleanse the shrine after Paul Rodgier, a 55-year-old American Christian,
> visited it on Thursday afternoon.
>
> The priests fined him Rs 209 when he pleaded that he was not aware of any
> restriction on the entry of foreigners to the temple. Rodgier had reportedly
> come to the government-run National Thermal Power Corp in Angul district on
> official work a few days ago.
>
> The shrine administration then decided to destroy the food that was
> prepared for offering to the deities, temple official Laxmidhar Pujapanda
> told the agency. A mud pit was dug inside the premises and the holy offering
> was thrown in it.
>
> The priests, who had stopped all the rituals of the temple since Thursday
> afternoon, also performed purification rituals on Friday, he said. The
> kitchen areas of the temple were also washed thoroughly, he added.
>
> Foreigners are not allowed to enter leading Hindu temples in Orissa,
> including the Jagannath temple at Puri and the Lingaraj temple here.
>
> An American woman, Pamela K Fleig, who had converted from Christianity to
> Hinduism after marrying an Uttar Pradesh resident, was denied entry into the
> 11th century Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar in 2005.
>
> Thailand's Crown Princess Sirindhorn was also not given permission to
> visit the Jagannath temple the same year because she is a foreigner and a
> Buddhist.
>
> Even former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a born Hindu was not allowed to
> enter the temple when she was in power because she had married a Parsi.
>
>    ------------------------------
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-- 
Nayanjyoti Medhi
Advocate
Gauhati High Court

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