Calcutta High Court orders that Dalits be allowed entry into temple in Bengal’s Nadia district

Calcutta High Court orders Dalit entry into Hindu temple in Nadia, West Bengal, amid fears of clashes during festival.

The Calcutta High Court ordered on Friday (March 21, 2025) that Dalits must be allowed inside a Hindu temple in West Bengal’s Nadia district. This is the second such incident in the State within a month where the authorities had to intervene to provide equal worshipping rights to the marginalised community. 

In an order passed by Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, he allowed the entry of the Dalit community into the temple in light of the upcoming Gajon festival, a Shiva festival celebrated mostly in eastern India.

The festivities will now take place under the close watch of the District Judge of Nadia as there is a fear of clashes and violence in the Debogram area of Nadia. This comes as local upper castes protested and stopped the entry of Dalits into the local Shiva temple until they took the matter to court. 

“The learned District Judge, Nadia having its office at Krishnagar will monitor whole of the issues as to whether there is any dispute and difference amongst the group of people who approached this Court,” the order said. It added that the district judge should call for a report on the area from the local officer-in-charge of Kaliganj police station every three days to keep a close watch on the situation. 

“In case any crisis arises, the learned District Judge, Nadia will direct the Superintendent of Police, Nadia to deploy sufficient number of police personnel, and under those circumstances, the learned District Judge, Nadia will direct the Superintendent of Police, Nadia to personally monitor the issues so that things do not flare up during the festival season,” Mr Ghosh’s order added. All necessary steps are to be taken to ensure that the situation does not escalate, and the problems are mitigated immediately, he said.

In a similar situation in Purba Bardhaman on March 12, five Dalits in Gidhagram were escorted by police and local authority members to allow their entry into the local Shiva temple after centuries of discrimination. Though the court was not involved in this case, it needed the intervention of the police and the sub-divisional and block development officers to ensure that the incident did not turn violent after local upper caste members showed severe resistance for weeks.