Mihir Bhoj row in Greater Noida: Gurjars say they will not celebrate Diwali

Members of the Gurjar community from different villages on Sunday called a maha panchayat at the Mihir Bhoj PG College in Greater Noida’s Dadri, and decided not to celebrate Diwali this year

Members of the Gurjar community from different villages on Sunday called a mahapanchayat at the Mihir Bhoj PG College in Greater Noida’s Dadri, and decided to not celebrate Diwali this year.

Gurjar leaders also demanded Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s apology over removing the word ‘Gurjar’ from the plaque of King Mihir Bhoj’s statue unveiled in Dadri in September.

The Gurjar community has been protesting against the alleged removal of their caste’s name from the plaque installed below the statue of king Mihir Bhoj that was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on September 22.

On October 2, Gurjar leaders set a October 30 deadline for the Uttar Pradesh government to issue an apology to the community for the alleged removal of word ‘Gurjar’ from the plaque.

The mahapanchayat was organised under the banner ‘Gurjar Swabhiman Sangharsh Samiti’, and it was attended by nearly 200 people.

Ravindra Bhati, national vice president of Akhil Bhartiya Gurjar Parishad, and convener of the programme, said that members of the Gurjar community are “unhappy” over the turns of events.

“The samiti has decided to not celebrate Diwali this year, and we also urge the Gurjar community to boycott the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming assembly elections,” Bhati said.

After the meeting, the samiti issued a 10-point resolution, including their demand that the Jewar airport be named after King Mihir Bhoj and a huge statue of former Dadri province king Raja Umrao Singh be installed there.

In the last few weeks, leaders of the Gurjar community visited different villages to mobilise the people to participate in the programme. However, some Gurjar leaders, who were earlier leading the campaign, were absent at the programme on Sunday.

The president of Akhil Bhartiya Veer Gurjar Mahasabha, Gautam Budh Nagar, Shyam Singh Bhati -- who was booked for allegedly smearing black paint on CM Adityanath’s name on the Mihir Bhoj’s plaque on September 28 this year -- said that he did not attend the programme.

A row started after some people allegedly removed the word ‘Gurjar’ from the plaque. On September 28, some people also smeared with black paints names of CM Adityanath and other BJP leaders on the plaque in protest. Following the incident, a case was filed against some unknown persons at the local police station and 150 people were booked.

Pradeep Tripathi, station house officer, Dadri police station, said that the police allowed the Sunday programme on the condition that only 200 people attend it. “A number of police personnel were deployed at the meeting venue, and the programme went off peacefully,” he said.

Vijay Bhati, president of BJP’s Gautam Budh Nagar unit, said that he considered the organisers of the Sunday programme as “political opponents and not the public/voters”. “We have a good relationship with the people, and they will decide whom to vote for,” Bhati said.