A ‘purification’ ritual organised in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani after a visit by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge last week has sparked a political row ahead of the Assembly polls. While the Congress has alleged that those who organised the ‘shuddhikaran havan’ were linked to the BJP and said it reflected a casteist mindset, the ruling party has distanced itself from the event. Kharge, too, has spoken up. Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, he said he had never asked anyone to protect him because he is a Dalit, but the ‘purification’ event made him feel humiliated.
Kharge addressed a public meeting at Ram Lila ground in Nainital district on August 8. Two days later, an organisation, Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas, performed a “shuddhikaran havan” at the ground.
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Criticising the event, state Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal said, “The ‘purification’ of the platform from which the AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge ji addressed the public during the Congress rally in Haldwani, performed by individuals associated with the BJP, is extremely hurtful and reprehensible.” “This incident reflects the caste-based discrimination and narrow-minded mentality of those in the BJP. The Congress believes in humanity, equality, and brotherhood, whereas such events promote hatred and division in society,” he said. Godiyal urged the police to take note and ensure proper action against the guilty.
Congress also said that the BJP was in a state of panic after the success of Kharge’s rally. He said that by performing the “shuddhikaran havan” and sprinkling gangajal at Ram Lila ground, people of the ruling party displayed their “anti-Dalit” mindset.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas president Girish Chandra Pandey denied any association with the BJP and RSS. He said that ‘havan’ was performed because the Hindu community’s sentiments were hurt when Kharge called Hindu organisations a “snake” and used a Hindu cultural site in Haldwani for a political purpose. Pandey confirmed that he was referring to Kharge’s remark during the Assam poll campaign earlier this year in which he described the ideology of the RSS and BJP as a “venomous snake”. “We also wanted to make an appeal that the venue meant for cultural activities not be used for political programmes,” he said.
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Rejecting the Congress’s allegations that an “anti-Dalit” mindset was behind the ‘purification’ ritual, Pandey said four Dalits were among those who performed the ‘havan’. Pandey said he founded this organisation only three months ago to spread religious and social awareness.
BJP denies link
Khajan Das, a state Cabinet Minister and a Dalit leader from the BJP, said the party had no connection to the “purification” programme and the organisation behind it. “Hindu religious programmes are organised at Ram Lila ground. But slogans of another community were raised during the Congress rally. That hurts the Hindu community,” Das told The Indian Express. He said Congress has raked up the caste issue only for a political purpose. The minister added, “Congress pretends to be a well-wisher of Dalits, but has always insulted Dalit leaders such as BR Ambedkar and Babu Jagjivan Ram.”
What Kharge said
Congress chief Kharge raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha. “I don’t want to make this a political issue. I have never told anyone that I am a Dalit; protect me. I have never begged before anyone. I have the power to fight and I fight.” “But the ‘purification’ of the Haldwani stage made me feel untouchability. I was humiliated. I demand that those who performed this be charged under the Untouchability (Offences) Act and arrested,” he said in a post on X.