Gurjars protest against Dadri MLA for dropping caste name from plaque

Organisers said they removed the name of the caste on the plaque installed below the statue after they realised that including the name of either of the castes would lead to protests.

As Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath finished his speech and left the degree college in Dadri after unveiling a statue of the ninth-century king Mihir Bhoj, some members of the Gurjar community started shouting slogans against Dadri MLA Tejpal Nagar for “dishonouring” their community. However, a heavy deployment of policemen at the venue prevented the protesters from entering the area housing the statue.

Gurjars protested against the removal of their caste name from the plaque of a statue soon after chief minister Yogi Adityanath left Mihir Bhoj Inter College in Dadri in Greater Noida on Wednesday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT photo)

Later, several men from the community gheraoed the MLA’a residence. Several members of the Rajput and the Gurjar communities have been protesting over the past few days, each claiming that the king belonged to their caste.

Organisers said they removed the name of the caste on the plaque installed below the statue after they realised that including either of the castes would lead to protests.

However, some members of the Gurjar community, who were also part of the group responsible for organising the event, added the name of their caste to the plaque on Wednesday morning before the chief minister arrived at the venue. But the organisers again removed the name of the caste.

At the event, the chief minister unveiled the statue, inaugurated a higher secondary school and a road, a drain and other projects in Dadri before addressing the audience. As he left the venue, members of the Gurjar community realised the word “Gurjar” had been removed from the plaque. They then started shouting slogans against MLA Nagar.

“They are doing politics and vitiating the atmosphere,” said Nagar before leaving the venue.

Later, Dadri police station house officer Pradip Tripathi tried to calm the protesters down, but failed. He then deployed several policemen in the area.

“Tejpal Nagar fears the government so much that he removed the Gurjar name just before the CM arrived. He has insulted our pride. We will teach him a lesson in the upcoming 2022 assembly elections. Why can’t we write Gurjar on the plaque when he was our king?” said Praveen Gujar, one of the protesters.

Meanwhile, Rajput community members said Gurjars were wrongly interpreting history.

“Pratihar Samrat Mihir Bhoj was a Rajput king and the word Gurjar refers to a place, not caste. They should understand this fact. We are happy that the CM made it clear that great people do not belong to any particular caste. We will continue to fight for our history to preserve it and we will not let anyone write the name of a caste before Mihir Bhoj,” said Rishipal Parmar, national president of Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha Trust.