00:00I was Member of Parliament from Thirupati more than six times.
00:13I know Urrisha a little bit.
00:19I was Union Minister for some time in P.V. Narsimharov's cabinet.
00:25I know Viju Patnaik very, very well.
00:30When I was Union Minister, Viju Babu always, once in two days, used to give me a ring.
00:37Hey, Chintamavan, I want this Paradeep, I want this port, I want this, I want that.
00:44I used to tell him, why don't you speak to Narsimharov?
00:48No, no, I will speak to you, get it done.
00:51I used to do certain things.
00:54And I was very fond of him, he was very fond of me.
00:57I don't have contact with Naveen, who is his son.
01:04I know J.P. Patnaik very well.
01:07He was Chief Minister, he was P.C.C. President, everything.
01:13And he died in Thirupati.
01:15Last minutes were in Thirupati.
01:18And my attachment with J.P. was so much.
01:24Coming to the point today, Dalit temple entry, Hindu temple entry.
01:33It's a very emotional issue in the country.
01:37It's a very historic issue.
01:42There are 30 crore people in India who are Dalits.
01:46Out of 140 crore, 30 crore people are Chitul castes.
01:54And they were treated as untouchables of those days.
01:59I am talking before independence.
02:03Hundred years back, there was one Dalit.
02:09That time he was called as Panchama.
02:12Chitul castes used to be called as Panchamas.
02:17A Panchama entered Hindu temple on 13th, October 1925.
02:28I repeat, 1925, October 13th.
02:34A Panchama, now Dalit, entered the sanctum sanctorum of Tiruchanur temple.
02:42Which is near to Thirupati.
02:46For entering the temple, police registered a case under section 295.
02:54And he was put in sub-jail of Thirupati.
03:00Then, nowadays nobody is giving coverage for scheduled castes or scheduled tribes or OVCs.
03:08That time newspaper Hindu carried a big article, big article in first page.
03:19This much of coverage was given by newspaper those days.
03:24Then, Rajagopalachari, big congress leader those days, I have seen it in the newspaper, came to Tirupati and argued on
03:40behalf of that Paraya, the Dalit.
03:43And got the acquittal from section 295 and got the release.
03:51And this is a historic development.
03:55And this is the achievement of the congress party of those days.
04:01And Rajagopalachari written a letter.
04:03At that time there is no type and all that probably.
04:08He wrote it with his own hand.
04:11Four pages.
04:13These are the pages, these are the letters written by Rajagopalachari to Mahatma Gandhi of those days.
04:22I am talking of 100 years back.
04:25And Mahatma Gandhi came to Tirupati, done Satyagraha and got the temple entry for 33 Dalits to the Hindu temple.
04:37This is a historic development in India.
04:42A Dalit, an untouchable, entered the temple 100 years back to commemorate the centenary of Dalit temple entry.
04:53We already started on 30th of October in Tirupati.
04:58Same thing.
05:00We will continue up to one year, coming one year.
05:03And in this context, I have come to Buraneswar to speak to you.
05:11And untouchables never allowed to the temples.
05:16Untouchables were not allowed to go to the schools.
05:20Untouchables were not allowed to walk on the streets.
05:23Untouchables were treated differently from that social stigma.
05:30Congress party alone brought them out of those sufferings.
05:35Untouchability, to some extent, it is removed from the country with the support and with all the hard work done
05:44by the Congress party.
05:45No party in India was able to do this.
05:49Bharati Janata party was not there that time.
05:52They were not able to do anything.
05:55No party except Congress party was able to do something to the untouchables of the country.
06:01And they have given reservations 15 percent.
06:04Seven and a half given to Kirijans.
06:06Twenty-seven percent given to the OBCs.
06:10And all these developments done by the Congress party.
06:16And we are going to not only Buraneswar, we are likely to go to Tirupati in the near future.
06:24Puri also.
06:26Ayodhya, Varanasi, all the temples in all states in India.
06:31And also we will cover the districts and we will celebrate this event all over the country.
06:39That is what I have come here to say few words before you.
06:43If you have any questions, please continue.
