Security was increased in Nakur town, in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, on Monday after members of the Gurjar clan held a demonstration in memory of Mihir Bhoj, a monarch of the Gurjar-Pratihara dynasty who the Rajputs say is a member of their group and who ruled during the ninth century.
According to Vipin Tada, the senior superintendent of police (SSP) in Saharanpur, there is a simmering tension that has caused the district’s internet connections to be halted until further instructions. In order to stop leaders and members of both groups from entering Saharanpur from the nearby Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, police have also blocked the city’s borders.
Following the Gurjar Pratihar Samrat Mihir Bhoj Gaurav Yatra in the Fandpuri and Ambeta regions, Nakur town remained tense on Monday. The district has been under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure’s clampdown for the previous three days, according to the police, hence no authorization was provided for the demonstration.
Some persons defied prohibitory orders, according to Sagar Jain, Superintendent of Police (SP), Saharanpur Rural. The district’s security has been stepped up, he said, adding, “We are in the process of identifying those who disobeyed the order and action would be initiated against them under the law.”
The Rajput community, who assert that Mihir Bhoj belonged to their group, opposed the protest. A dharna (sit-in protest) was organised by certain community members at the Ramleela field in Saharanpur’s Hakeekat Nagar neighbourhood in opposition to the event. Gurjars have been charged by Rajputs for “distorting” history.
Police prevented farmer leader Thakur Pooran Singh of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan and his followers from accessing the district by using the prohibitory orders. Atul Pradhan, a lawmaker for the Samajwadi Party, was also stopped by police in Muzaffarnagar’s Sisana hamlet. Pradhan and his followers protested by blocking the route and demanding permission to take part in the yatra.
Rajeev Sabharwal, an additional director general of police (Meerut zone), arrived in Saharanpur and spoke with SSP Vipin Tada and other authorities about the current state of affairs.
The dispute concerning the monarch from the ninth century has brought the two groups together before. After state minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a monument of the sixth Gurjar-Pratihara monarch in the Gurjar-dominated Dadri town in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district (Noida), a dispute regarding Samrat Mihir Bhoj broke out.
Members of the Rajput group Karni Sena had opposed to the king being referred to as a Gurjar back then. Tension between the two groups resulted from their blackening of the Gurjar word engraved at the statue’s base.