LUCKNOW: Until the streets of Saharanpur echoed with the screams of rage and pain, little was known about the presiding deity of terror, Chandra Shekhar ‘Azad’ aka Ravana, convener of the Bhim Sena that is taking on the upper caste Thakurs and challenging the administration through violent protests and road shows.
Not very long ago, the town was known for Darul Uloom Deoband, the world-renowned centre for Islamic learning. And for Shakumbri Devi, the seat of goddess Durga. These identities have now been shoved into the background.
What the world knows of Saharanpur in the past two months, through TV channels and social media, is rampaging mobs, burning vehicles, houses in flames and marching security forces. Just two months after coming to power with its biggest-ever win, the BJP government is facing an arduous task to douse the flames of caste-conflict in its gateway to Uttarakhand and Haryana, which ironically is also its Lok Sabha constituency number 1.
With nearly 42 per cent Muslim population, Saharanpur was always considered ‘communally sensitive’, but any violent manifestation was not witnessed until the entire west UP became a laboratory of communal politics after 2010. In 2014, the district was under curfew after clashes between Sikhs and Muslims over a piece of religious land. The following year saw over 150 cases of communal flare-ups, which didn’t make it to the mainstream media but kept the administration on its toes.
The caste conflicts between Thakurs and Dalits has its origin in the demographic nature of the district and blatant caste-based electoral politics. Saharanpur has a 22 per cent Dalit population, which made BSP founder Kanshi Ram contest from there in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.
Although Kanshi Ram lost, Saharanpur has always been a happy hunting ground for BSP.
In 2007, it swept five out of six seats of the district. In 2012, despite an SP wave, it won four. But this time, the BSP failed to open its account in the district. The sole Dalit MLA from there is from the BJP.
Chandra Shekhar is giving voice to Dalit aspirations. It is recounted that in 2009, he protested against a tap for Dalits and another for upper castes in an inter college and prevailed upon the administration to end this discrimination. Since then, he has been working relentlessly for Dalits’ cause. It is believed that Bhim Army has no reservations about the way and means to promote the Dalit cause and fight for their rights.
Thakurs are emboldened after Yogi Adityanath of their caste became CM.
“Dalits of Saharanpur were not happy with the way local BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal tried to give a communal colour to the Ambedkar Jayanti procession on April 20. They allege that the MP insisted on taking the procession through a Dalit locality, and upper caste participants were shouting ‘Jai Shriram’ instead of ‘Jai Bhim’,” says Neeraj, a Dalit activist from Saharanpur. This was the beginning of mistrust between Thakurs and Dalits.
Twenty days later when Thakurs took out a procession on Maharana Pratap Jayanti in Shabbirpur village, Dalits objected to the blaring music. And what followed was fury of caste violenc e. The appointment of a Thakur DM, CO and other senior officers enraged Dalits further.