Writer faces wrath for calling Maharana a tribal
UNDER FIRE Author of 65 books, Kusum Meghwal says police has not provided her security
An acclaimed Dalit writer in Rajasthan has said she is being threatened for suggesting in a 2015 book that Rajput warrior king Maharana Pratap belonged to the Bhil community and was only elevated as the Rana of Mewar later.
Kusum Meghwal told Hindustan Times she has been getting phone calls from the past week from unknown people who abuse her and use profanities.
“I have been getting calls from unknown numbers who are threatening to kill me for writing the book. Some of the callers claim they are from the Karni Sena while others say they are Thakurs. I haven’t ventured from my house in the last 7 days,” the writer said.
The author of over 65 books also alleged that she has received calls from individuals who claimed they were from the ‘Indian Army’ and also abused and threatened her.
Meghwal, who has made the claim in her book Maharana Pratap Bhil Rajputra The Kshatriya Ya Rajput Nahi, said the word Bhil comes from the Sanskrit word Bhilla, which means brave and martial.
“The Bhil community has traditionally been spread all over Mewar and was known for their martial prowess. Maharana Pratap was also a Bhil who was later elevated as the ruler of Mewar in a ceremony to make him a suryavanshi,” she said.
“If any person objects to what I have written, he is welcome to write something in retaliation or to even register a court case. But where does the freedom of expression go if instead of any debate, people start threatening the author?” Meghwal, the younger sister of Rajasthan assembly speaker Kailash Meghwal, asked.
Meghwal, who has a long history of activism, added that this is an effort to subdue the voices of the Dalits. “I sent a written complaint to the police superintendent and range inspector general and got advice in return that I should switch off my phone. I am scared for my safety but the police haven’t provided me with any security cover,” she alleged.
Kavita Srivastava of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) strongly condemned the police inaction in the matter.
“There is a complete abdication of the agencies which are supposed to protect the rights of people which has resulted in utter lawlessness in Rajasthan. The way Meghwal is being harassed shows that any analysis is not acceptable with the dominant caste and Hindutva forces.”
However, Chandra Purohit, station house officer of the Ambamata police station, told HT they have provided security to Meghwal ‘secretly’.
“We have deputed policemen in civil dress near her house and are examining the numbers from which Meghwal received the calls. A case couldn’t be lodged in the matter at present because Meghwal doesn’t have any recordings,” Purohit said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government (BJP) in the state recently said school students will be taught that Maharana Pratap defeated the decorated army of Mughal emperor Akbar in the Battle of Haldighati some 450 years ago.