State Home Secretary Mani Prashad Mishra meets villagers in Shabbirpur on Thursday. Gajendra Yadav State Home Secretary Mani Prashad Mishra meets villagers in Shabbirpur on Thursday. Gajendra Yadav

WITH TENSION between Rajputs and Dalits refusing to abate in Saharanpur, and both communities blaming the administration for the recent deaths, state Home Secretary Mani Prasad Mishra and ADG (Law and Order) Aditya Mishra went door to door in Shabbirpur village, the epicentre of the violence, to calm tempers. Mani Prasad apologized to both communities for failure of the police and assured them of action against those who did not do their duty. He was confronted with specific instances of police inaction and atrocities by the other community.

“I have worked with many governments. I can assure you that Yogi ji (Adityanath) is true to his word. He has sent me to listen to your problems and sort them out,” he told a gathering in the village.

Mani Prasad did most of the talking after the government contingent arrived at the village at 11.30 am on Thursday. In between his appeals for peace, the official narrated in chaste Hindi stories of the Buddha and other religious figures to drive home the need for tolerance.

To a frail 73-year-old Rajput, sitting on a charpoy with a buffalo and cow tied behind, he advised how by worshipping the cow every day and drinking its milk, he could live till 104 years.

Mani Prasad apologized for meeting only Dalits during his visit to the village the previous day.

“I had an important meeting and had to leave. I have come today to listen to all the bitter things you have to tell me,” he said.

At one point a group of Rajputs gheraoed him and threatened to teach a particular gram pradhan and members of the Bhim Army a lesson. Mani Prasad asked them to keep calm: “Bhim Army ko hum dekh lenge.”

Minutes later, he greeted Dalit families in Saharanpur with the slogan “Jai Bhim”.

“We all are human beings and our blood is the same. Through you, I appeal to the Dalit community to help the government,” he told 70-year-old Vimla.

When others recounted the horrors of May 5 and 23, and the administration’s inaction, he told them: “If the administration had done proper work, I need not have come to this village. I am here to correct all the wrongs. Also, my experience tells me the government is not wrong.”

He asked them to have a meeting with the Rajputs, to which they all agreed.

The family members of Pradeep Chauhan, a 37-year-old who was shot at in Chak Hareta area on Wednesday, blamed the Bhim Army.

Pradeep was going to buy goods for his shop when someone shot at him. “His motorbike had a sticker of Maharana Pratap and ‘Rajput’ was written on it. He became a victim of the ongoing hate crime,” Pradeep’s father Jasbeer said.

He added that Pradeep was undergoing treatment in Chandigarh, but his condition was critical.

Bhim Army national president Vinay Ratan Singh said the allegations were baseless. “We are working very hard to maintain peace and order in the district. I don’t understand why we are being targeted. We have never perpetrated violence against Thakurs, and we have no role in this incident,” he said.

SP (City) Prabal Pratap Singh said, “We are questioning people in the city. We are investigating all possible angles and not ruling out the possibility of Bhim Army’s role.”

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