A saffron gamcha on his shoulders, a tilak on his forehead and a rifle in his hand, Naman Pandit struck a belligerent pose on social media ...
A saffron gamcha on his shoulders, a tilak on his forehead and a rifle in his hand, Naman Pandit struck a belligerent pose on social media last week as he declared: “Brahamano ko beema nahi chahiye, hathiyar chahiye.” Brahmins do not want insurance, they want weapons.
Pandit is an office bearer of the Gau Rakshak Sangh in Khurja town in western Uttar Pradesh. As a footsoldier of Hindutva, his politics is ordinarily aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. But he is now part of a wave of angry Brahmins who believe they are victims of a pro-Kshatriya BJP government led by chief minister Adityanath, who is Thakur by caste.
There was always some resentment among Brahmins about losing out to their rival upper caste group, Kashtriyas, also called Thakurs, ever since Adityanath came to power. But a series of events this summer, starting with the alleged extrajudicial killing of gangster Vikas Dubey, has sharpened the anger against the government.
In his post, Pandit claims Uttar Pradesh has become “Brahmhatya Pradesh”, a state where Brahmins are killed – a reference to Dubey’s killing.
With an eye on the 2022 assembly elections, the political Opposition is trying to stoke this anger. Every formation from the Congress,...
