The Bharatpur royals have crossed swords over a book written by one of them. The town on Thursday had witnessed groups led by former MP Vishvendra Singh and his uncle Raghuraj Singh battling on the streets scaring the rest of the residents in the area out of their wits. More than a dozen persons who accompanied Mr. Vishvendra Singh and his wife and former MLA Divya Singh to Laxmi Vilas, the hotel-cum-residence of Mr. Raghuraj Singh, had sustained injuries in the fracas which included firing of a few shots.
The trouble is over a book on the Bharatpur royalty, “Bharatpur Rajvansh: Achooti Smritiyan”, authored by Raghuraj Singh. Though the book was released a year ago by former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the “objectionable” contents of it seemingly came to the knowledge of Mr. Vishvendra Singh, in the direct lineage of the former Jat kingdom of Bharatpur, only a few days back. After inserting an advertisement condemning the book on Thursday, he led a group of persons to Laxmi Vilas. In response, the uncle's side reportedly opened fire. Following the incident, the whole of Bharatpur district was put under prohibitory orders.
A day after the flare-up, Bharatpur town observed a bandh on Friday by closing its markets. Mr. Vishvendra Singh has announced convening of a ‘maha panchayat' outside the Chavad Devi temple in Paigor village of Kumher tehsil on September 5. The ‘maha panchayat', he said, would be attended by all sections of people and leaders, including Independent MP from Dausa K.L. Meena and Jat Mahasabha leader Rajaram Meel. The panchayat is to decide on the future action plan in connection with the book.
The details of the medical reports received during the day indicated that at least two of the injured had received gunshots. Mr. Vishvendra Singh the previous day had accused his uncle of making a murderous attempt on him and his wife while they were “protesting in a democratic manner” against the book, which, he said, tarnished the image of the Bhartpur royal family.
During an interaction with the media in Bharatpur, Inspector-General of Police Sunil Dutt conceded that the police were looking on when the violence took place at the Laxmi Vilas palace. “The police were not in adequate numbers that time to control the situation effectively,” he explained.
