Over the last few days, tension between the Rajput and Gujjar communities in Haryana have been on the rise after the ninth-century ruler Mihir Bhoj was referred to as “Gujjar Pratihar” (referring to the ancient Gujjar-Pratihar dynasty) during an unveiling of his statue in Kaithal. Leaders from the Rajput community were unhappy that the king had not been called a “Hindu Samrat”, which they said was a more apt title.
The issue continues to create ripples across the state and has led to a certain extent of political ruckus. Keeping the seriousness of the matter in mind, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar took cognisance of the matter and held meetings with leaders from both communities.
On Thursday, a meeting was held between the representatives of the Gujjar community in Kurukshetra in the presence of State Education Minister Kanwar Pal, who also belongs to the community. In the meeting, Pal urged both communities to come together to “sort out the issue peacefully” and added that similar to the Gujjars, the Rajput community should form a committee to ensure a timely solution to the issue.
The representatives of both communities are pitted against each other. However, it is expected that the matter will be brought to an end soon. Meanwhile, the ongoing dispute between the two communities is now being considered a matter of political gain and loss as voters from both communities constitute a sizable chunk of the vote bank on several Assembly seats. Besides that, both communities wield influence in the parliamentary polls. In such a situation, no party seems in a position to neglect the political importance of both communities in Haryana. Estimatedly, both communities constitute about 7 percent of the total population of the state, with both Gujjars and Rajputs having an equal share.
Over the past week, the matter escalated so much that it reached the Chief Minister who held a meeting between representatives of both communities on 24 July at his residence in a bid to sort out the issue. Following the meeting, Chief Minister Khattar appealed to both sides for a peaceful resolution.
Following the incident, the Rajput community began protesting the addition of the word “Gujjar” in front of the ruler’s name. In many places, people and leaders of the Rajput community, supporters of the BJP, resigned in protest on a large scale. One of the stalwarts of the BJP said on conditions of anonymity that since the polls draw near, the matter cannot be taken lightly in any way as it is most likely to cause damage to the party. Both communities are adamant that Samrat Mihir Bhoj belonged to their community. In continuation to this, have been citing historical accounts to support their claims. The Rajput community continues to demand that the prefix “Gujjar” be removed from the statue in Kaithal and the words “Hindu Samrat” or “Samrat Mihir Bhoj” should be written instead. On the other hand, the leaders of the Gurjar community say that the prefix “Gujjar Pratihar” should remain in front of the name.