There has been a tradition of a village meal in Trimbakeshwar in the name of the village goddess Mahadevi for hundreds of years. The evil practice of cooking separate food for people of a particular caste from the food collected through public donations and making them sit in a separate row for meals has been stopped due to the efforts of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANIS). Therefore, the fight launched by Maharashtra ANIS against this evil practice has been a great success.
Public donations are collected by the Mahadevi Trust in Trimbakeshwar. This village meal is organised from these funds. It is called ‘Paras’. More than 10,000 people enjoy this feast or langar.
However, in the village, the food required for the meal of a particular community was cooked separately from the food purchased with money collected from the public, and the meal row of this particular community was different from the row of members of other Bahujan Samaj. This matter was known to the Nashik and Trimbakeshwar activists of ANIS for the last two years. At that time, this evil practice of caste discrimination was stopped by submitting letters to the tehsildar and the police administration.
This year, the village meal was organised on Thursday, April 18. There was talk that there would again be separate rows based on caste. Opposing this, ANIS took a stand that if the village meal is being held as per the wishes of the people, then all villagers who come to enjoy this meal should benefit from the food cooked at the same place and eaten in the same row — there should be no objection to this.
A letter was given to the tehsildar of Trimbakeshwar in this regard a few days ago. A detailed discussion was also held with him regarding this caste discrimination. Cooking food for a specific community in a separate place and making them sit in a separate row at the village meal is inconvenient, inhumane, inconsistent with the Constitution, and increases social inequality, said Dr Thaksen Gorane, State Principal Secretary of ANIS. State Executive Member Krishna Chandgude, Working President of Trimbakeshwar Sanjay Hale, and Dilip Kale informed the tehsildar and the police through oral and written memoranda. The tehsildar explained the law to the concerned trustees.
After that, the trustees made the right decision and decided to serve food to everyone in the same row. Therefore, the practice of sitting in separate rows for a specific community, which had been going on for many years, was ended by the efforts of all involved.
"This evil practice was stopped two years ago. But when we got information that separate rows would be arranged again this year, we informed the district and state executive office bearers of ANIS. We came together and fought against it, and this social change has taken place with the efforts of all, and ANIS welcomes this," said Sanjay Hale, President, ANIS, Trimbakeshwar.
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