Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country was rectifying the mistakes, injustice and tampering that was committed against those who created history.
Mr. Modi made the remarks while laying the foundation stone of a Maharaja Suheldev Memorial and development work of Chittaura Lake in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, through videoconferencing
Medieval Bhar chieftain Suheldev is projected as a Hindutva icon by the RSS-BJP.
Mr. Modi said, “It is unfortunate that those who dedicated their lives to the protection of ‘Bharatiyata’, innumerable such heroes and heroines did not get the due position that they deserved”.
The “injustice” and tampering done against those who created history in the name of writing history were being “rectified” by today’s India, which was freeing itself of these mistakes, he noted.
Though Suheldev's historical existence is shrouded in mystery, he is popular as a caste icon among the Rajbhars (OBC) and the Pasis (second largest Dalit caste in U.P.), both of whom have been competing for his legacy and are predominantly found in central and eastern U.P.
‘Hindutva warrior’
The RSS-BJP have over the years tried to project Suheldev as a Hindutva warrior who stopped the march of Muslim invader Ghazi Mian, a nephew of Mahmud Ghaznavi, in Bahraich and halted the Islamicisation of the region.
In areas around Bahraich, Suheldev enjoys a legendary status.
Mr. Modi said, India’s history was not just about those “who enslaved the country and the history written by those with a mentality of slavery.” India’s history was also that which had been nurtured by the common people through folklores and transmitted from one generation to another.
There was no better occasion than the 75th year of Independence of the country to remember and take inspiration from the contribution of icons like Suheldev and their sacrifice, penance struggle, valour and martyrdom, he stated.
Citing examples of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose , Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and B.R. Ambedkar, along with Suheldev, Mr. Modi said there were many personalities in the country who had not got their due recognition.
Maharaja Suheldev’s valour and courage may not have found their place in history books but from Awadh to Terai region and Purvanchal, he had always found himself in folklores and in people’s hearts. Suheldev was a sensitive and development-oriented ruler, he asserted.
The debate over Suheldev’s caste legacy was triggered once again before Tuesday’s event, as BJP MP from Bansgaon Kamlesh Paswan wrote to Mr. Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind demanding that the memorial built for Suheldev be named as Rashtraveer Suheldev Pasi Smarak, claiming that Suheldev belonged to the Pasi community and not Bhar as stated by Anil Rajbhar, a Minister in the U.P. government.
SBSP holds event
The Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which has often accused the BJP of trying to appropriate the legacy of Suheldev, held their own event in Azamgarh to mark the 1012 birth anniversary of “Maharaja Suheldev Rajbhar,” hailing him as “rashtra rakshak rashtraveer.”
Taking a dig at Mr. Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for referring to Suheldev without his caste name, Mr. Rajbhar wondered how those who could not even take the full name of the icon, provide representation, reservation, education, jobs and right to equality to his “descendants.”
With an eye on the Rajbhar votes and legacy of Suheldev, the BJP, in 2016, forged an alliance with the SBSP in the 2017 Assembly polls, but months before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Rajbhar turned rebel and was sacked from the State Cabinet.
