New Delhi: Thousands of men linked to the right-wing group Karni Sena and other associated Kshatriya outfits assembled on the outskirts of Agra on April 12 brandishing swords, spears and thick wooden lathis in continuation of their campaign against Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament Ramji Lal Suman who had apparently offended them by insinuating collaboration between 16th century Rajput ruler Rana Sanga and the first Mughal emperor Babur.Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged a direct link between the Karni Sena protests, which was attended by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including a union minister, and a legislator from the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh. “This Sena belongs to the BJP,” said Yadav on Monday (April 14), after paying a tribute to B.R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary in Lucknow. Karni Sena’s ‘Rakt Swabhimaan Sammelan’ Speaking in Parliament recently, Suman, a senior Dalit leader, had referred to Sanga’s invitation to Babur to India to fight against Lodi ruler Ibrahim Lodi. In protest, members of the Karni Sena on March 26, vandalised his residence and vehicles parked outside it in Agra.
On April 12, Karni Sena members and supporters organised a ‘Rakt Swabhimaan Sammelan’ in Agra on the birth anniversary of Rana Sanga in a show of strength and to demand action against Suman. Kshatriya caste leaders raised provocative slogans at the event while those attending it created a ruckus on the highway to Agra. This led to a traffic jam that lasted at least 30 minutes, said police. Many Karni Sena activists were seen blocking vehicles and dancing on the road with swords and lathis in their hands.
The police said that those attending the rally went back to their sources after handing over a memorandum to the administration. Agra BJP MP and union minister Satya Pal Singh Baghel and BJP MLA from Etmadpur Dharamraj Singh participated in the event. Baghel joined the Karni Sena to criticise Suman for his remarks on Rana Sanga. “All the nationalists, people from communities other than the Kshatriya community, their sentiments were hurt,” said Baghel, surrounded by Karni Sena activists.
Baghel hailed Sanga for his “indomitable courage, bravery and patriotism,” and asked Suman to apologise for his comments. MLA Singh also appeared at the scene and said that the event was conducted peacefully. Singh said the Karni Sena activists handed him a memorandum of their demands calling for action against Suman, including the cancellation of his RS membership. Singh said that their local demands would be met within a day while those concerning the central government would be sent forward to Delhi.
Okendra Singh Rana, the youth national president of the Kshatriya Karni Sena, who was booked for vandalising Suman’s house last month, said that people from 36 communities gathered at the event in Agra had taken an oath to not vote for the SP in the next election. “We will wipe out the SP in 2027,” said Rana on Facebook. Yadav stands with MP Suman, slams UP administration SP president Yadav questioned the silence of the BJP government over the open threats issued by Karni Sena supporters to him and his party colleagues. “Can you imagine the kind of naked dance that took place at the behest of the administration?
They are threatening to take lives. What are the people who follow the Constitution and the law doing? Who is responsible for it,” he asked in Lucknow. Yadav has more than once alleged that the BJP was behind the Karni Sena.
At a recent rally in Etawah, Yadav said he would stand strongly with Suman and any other SP member who was facing such threats. “We will fight for his honour,” he said. Yadav also compared the Karni Sena to the paramilitary outfits run by Adolf Hitler in Germany. “Even Hitler had a sena.
He would get his workers to wear military uniforms and get his opponents beaten up. This is now some sena. They are all BJP people,” he said. BJP, Samajwadi Party Trade Barbs After Karni Sena Vandalises Home of SP MP Ramji Suman Ever since Suman made his remarks, several right-wing activists and outfits have issued threats to him.
Last week, police in Aligarh booked a Karni Sena leader Mohan Chauhan for allegedly declaring a bounty of Rs 25 lakh for Suman’s life. Following the threats, Suman even moved the Allahabad High Court seeking enhanced security. Meanwhile, police have been on high-alert and a three-tier security cordon was created to prevent Karni Sena members from reaching Suman’s residence on April 12. Suman, responding to the Karni Sena rally, said that while others had the right to disagree with him and protest, they should not resort to violence. “If someone was hurt, they should use the constitutional way,” he said.