ದೇವರಿಗೊಂದು ಅರ್ಜಿ (Devarigondu Arji)
by ಲಕ್ಕೂರು ಸಿ. ಆನಂದ (Lakkur C. Anand)
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This sharp Dalit/Bandaya protest poem by Lakkur C. Anand, 'A Petition to God', is ingeniously framed as a formal legal petition addressed directly to God. Speaking for the marginalised, it protests untouchability, caste humiliation and social exclusion. The petitioner lists the daily injustices, shadows called impure, being barred from wells and temples, and questions why a merciful Creator's self-appointed representatives treat the low-born worse than street dogs. The petition ends not with a plea for mercy but with a firm, dignified demand for equal human rights and social justice.
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Lakkur C. Anand's Devarigondu Arji is a satirical, challenging poem that exposes the cruelties of the caste system. It is cleverly formatted as a formal, bureaucratic petition addressed to the Almighty. The speaker, representing the Dalit community, begins with mock-politeness: 'Respected God... please accept this humble petition from your untouchable children.'
The catalogue of injustice
The petitioner lists the daily humiliations: though living human beings, their very shadow is deemed 'impure'; they are forced to live outside the village, barred from common wells and beaten for entering temples of the very God who made them. In biting lines he says that if they try to touch a rose the flower asks their caste, and if they look at the moon the light asks their religion, exposing the absurdity and the hypocrisy of scriptures and priests who preach brotherhood but practise apartheid.
A demand for justice
The speaker challenges God directly: 'Did you create us differently? Is our blood a different colour? If not, why do your representatives treat us worse than street dogs?' The petition ends not with a plea for mercy but with a firm, dignified demand for justice, an end to silence and man-made rules, and immediate restoration of basic human rights, equal dignity and a fair share in the nation's resources, making it a powerful anthem of Dalit self-respect and social rebellion.