Accusing the police of atrocities on their clan, hundreds of Rajputs under the aegis of Rajput Sangharsh Samiti protested on Tuesday, demanding a fair investigation into the cases lodged in connection with the clashes with Dalits at Uldepur village last week.
The Rajputs handed over their charter of demands to SSP Rajesh Kumar Pandey in which they demanded a fair investigation and action.
In the clash between Dalits and Rajputs at Uldepur village, a Dalit youth Rahul was killed while more than a dozen people from both communities sustained injuries.
Cases were registered by the police against members of both the communities and arrested three Rajputs. The Rajputs are accusing the police of not taking action against Dalits.
Rahul Chauhan, member of the Samiti, said that they are forced to come together and form the samiti as their voices are being ignored. He said that the Rajputs will continue their fight for justice as permitted to them by law.
This is not for the first time that a clash has been reported between Dalits and Rajputs in the region. Members of the two communities had clashed at Kapsaad village of Sardhana on the issue of the alleged molestation of a minor Rajput girl by a Dalit youth. The Rajputs then allegedly thrashed Dalits in their localities.
SSP Rajesh Kumar Pandey, however, said that the two incidents were not caste clashes as were unfortunately being projected. Pandey claimed that both communities have settled the issue through talks at Kapsaad village. “Raids are being conducted to arrest the persons involved in the Uldepur violence irrespective of their caste,” he said.
The region had witnessed a clash between Dalits and Rajputs in Shabbirpur village of Saharanpur district in May last year over taking out a procession of Rajput King Maharana Pratap. One Rajput youth was killed in the clash and thereafter angry Rajputs torched at least 50 houses of Dalits in the village. The area has not yet recovered from the violence.