Gurugram: This week, Haryana Chief Minister and BJP chief Manohar Lal Khattar not solely named a senior secondary college for ladies in Palwal district after Indian freedom fighter Jhalkari Bai on the event of her start anniversary, but additionally introduced development of a neighborhood centre for members of the Koli caste and the putting in of a statue of Jhalkari Bai there.
The liberty fighter was a member of the Koli neighborhood, based on an announcement launched by the federal government.
The naming of the college after Bai and the announcement of the development of the Rs 3 crore neighborhood centre, are the most recent in a collection of occasions aimed toward celebrating previous heroes beneath the Khattar authorities’s ‘Sant Mahapurush Samman Avam Vichar Prasar Yojna’.
Whereas the programme was began in February 2021, with the avowed intention of remembering icons from historical past on their start or demise anniversary, it has additionally become a possible caste outreach scheme for the ruling BJP forward of subsequent 12 months’s Lok Sabha and state meeting elections, stated political observers.
Hemant Atri, a political observer from Haryana, stated that the style during which occasions to rejoice start anniversaries of nationwide heroes from totally different castes and sub-castes are being organised by the Khattar authorities, leaves nobody doubtful that the federal government is making an attempt to woo individuals forward of the parliamentary and meeting elections due subsequent 12 months.
“Though the scheme was launched two years back, the number of events organised by the government in the past one year shows that it is an outreach attempt ahead of elections,” stated Atri.
In a message on social media platform X (beforehand Twitter), Khattar wrote Monday, “Jhalkari Bai, a brave woman, fought with amazing bravery against the British army along with Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi in the first war of independence [in 1857]. The life of courageous, fearless and patriotic heroine Jhalkari Bai ji inspires all of us and will inspire the coming generations. We all have to work together to carry her name forward.”
In response to Praveen Attrey, media secretary within the Haryana authorities, the ‘Sant Mahapurush Samman Avam Vichar Prasar Yojna’ has performed a big position in conveying the message of communal concord and peace amongst individuals, and it will be “misplaced” to view it via the prism of caste politics.
Attrey added that the state had allotted Rs 10 crore for the implementation of the scheme.
Political observers, nonetheless, discover the Khattar authorities’s seeming caste outreach via the Mahapurush scheme to be in contradiction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that the one caste that mattered to him have been the poor.
The PM had made the assertion whereas addressing a rally in Durg, Chhattisgarh, forward of this month’s meeting election within the state.
“It is surprising that when PM Narender Modi refused to acknowledge the existence of caste, his party’s government in Haryana is creating and celebrating caste icons through an extravagant scheme ‘Sant Mahapurush Vichar Samman Prasar Yojana’ in the stated objective of ‘spreading the message of communal harmony and peace’,” stated Mahabir Jaglan, a retired professor of Kurukshetra College.
Jaglan additional alleged: This [the introduction of the programme] is the results of the flop of onerous Hindutva in Haryana, which was designed to be carried out via latest communal clashes in Mewat. The individuals on the whole and the peasantry, particularly, stood as a rock towards the communalisation of the society via Nuh violence. The BJP via its authorities within the state has developed the plan B to push its divisive agenda, this time within the type of delicate Hindutva. It appears to have a plan to make inroads into totally different castes invoking the previous glory of their heroes.”
On 31 July, a spiritual procession organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Matra Shakti Durga Vahini was attacked, allegedly by a whole lot of youths from the Meo Muslim neighborhood, resulting in clashes that left six lifeless, over 70 injured, and brought about lack of property value a number of crores. The violence spilled to adjoining districts of Haryana, together with Gurugram the place a mosque was set ablaze and a naib imam was killed. On the coronary heart of the unrest was the hearsay that cow vigilante Monu Manesar could be becoming a member of the yatra.
Whereas Haryana Dwelling Minister Anil Vij had stated the incident had been engineered to disturb peace within the state, the Khattar authorities had drawn flak after a purported video of a Nuh cop claiming he had shared prior inputs of a potential build-up of communal pressure within the district with the federal government, went viral on social media.
In the meantime, the Mahapurush marketing campaign has additionally raised eyebrows within the Opposition camp, who described it as “event management to cover its failures”.
“This government is a non-performing government. Haryana, which used to be number one in per capita investment and per capita income in the past is now, on the top in unemployment and inflation. The government keeps organising such events to divert people’s attention from its failures,” Hooda claimed when contacted by ThePrint Thursday.
Up to now couple of months, the Khattar authorities has organised almost a dozen occasions to rejoice the start anniversaries of historic figures — largely Hindu kings or warriors.
Khattar’s X web page is crammed with images and posts detailing his participation in these occasions.
On 27 February, 2021, Khattar posted a video asserting that these celebrating start anniversaries of Mahapurushs beneath the ‘Sant Mahapurush Samman Avam Vichar Prasar Yojna’ would get a grant of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Nevertheless, a scan of his posts in regards to the scheme present that whereas he has posted about eight such occasions up to now 12 months, there are mentions of solely two programmes associated to the ‘Mahapurush’ scheme between its inception and December 2022.
In Could final 12 months, Khattar was the chief visitor at a Maharishi Kashyap Jayanti celebration in Karnal. Maharishi Kashyap is hailed as a previous icon of the Kashyap Gotra amongst Brahmins.
On 20 December final 12 months, Khattar posted a video of his speech at a Maharaj Shoor Saini Jayanti celebration in Hisar. Saini is taken into account an icon of the Saini neighborhood, an OBC group in Haryana.
There are posts of many different such occasions on the Haryana CM’s X web page.
In February this 12 months, Khattar posted about an occasion in Gurugram, presided over by him, organised to rejoice the start anniversary of Guru Ravidas, an icon of the Ravidassia neighborhood among the many Scheduled Castes.
On 23 April, Khattar posted pictures from the start anniversary celebrations of the fifteenth century poet Dhanna Bhagat, a disciple of Swami Ramanand of Kashi. Dhanna Bhagat was a Jat from Rajasthan.
On 7 October this 12 months, Khattar presided over a perform to mark the coronation anniversary of Samrat Hemchandra Vikramaditya, additionally recognized by the title of Hemu, in New Delhi. Hemu is taken into account an icon for Bhargava Brahmin neighborhood.
The Khattar authorities has additionally organised occasions to mark the start anniversaries of Parshurama (Brahmin), Sant Kabir Das (Dhanak neighborhood among the many Scheduled Castes), Guru Gorakhnath (Nath neighborhood), Jyotiba Phule (Maali/Scheduled Caste), Udham Singh (Kamboj), Maharaja Ajmeedh (Goldsmiths) and Dr B.R. Ambedkar (Dalits) up to now one 12 months.
The castes of all of the historic figures are as has been claimed by the federal government.
In response to Jaglan, the celebration of icons like Hemu, Dhanna Bhagat, Jhalkari Bai, and Parshuram matches into the BJP’s scheme of sentimental Hindutava. “But there are inherent contradictions in almost every case. They glorify Hemu for fighting against Mughals, but hide the fact that he fought on behalf of the Afghan Muslim ruler Adil Shah Suri,” stated the retired professor.
Jaglan added: “Dhanna Bhagat was a saint who believed in the presence of a single God, which is contradictory to the tenets of Hindutva. According to mythological sources Parshuram, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was constantly at war with Kshatriyas who are upper-caste Hindus and not Muslims.”
In response to political observer Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Khattar authorities scheme is nothing however diversionary ways being employed by the BJP-led authorities in Haryana, to make sure individuals don’t discuss the actual problems with unemployment, inflation and regulation and order.
“It is not the government’s job to celebrate birth anniversaries of people from history. But the Khattar government has been doing this under its Sant Mahapurush Samman Avam Vichar Prasar Yojna to keep people busy on such issues so that they don’t ask questions about the real issues they are facing,” stated Bansal.
Whereas the political observer added that such ways are adopted by all events, he accused the Khattar authorities of using them greater than the others.
Talking at this week’s occasion to honour Jhalkari Bai, Khattar spoke glowingly of the liberty fighter, recalling how she had “disguised herself as Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, and sacrificed her life to save the queen’s life”.
In response to Attrey, “Jhalkari Bai’s greatness and bravery have had a profoundly positive impact on the lives of the Scheduled Castes community in North India, as she emerged as a symbol of inspiration”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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