Meen and Bheem Sena refuse to take blame for violence
: Bheem Sena and Meen Sena, the two organisations at the forefront of the April 2 nationwide strike in protest against the alleged dilution of a law safeguarding scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, were known little in Rajasthan until the protests turned violent on Monday.
They, however, refused to take the blame for the clashes between groups, arson and gunfire during the strike in which a man died in Rajasthan. Elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh, eight people were killed and two men lost their lives in UP.
The Rajasthan-based Meen Sena was founded by 40-year-old Pankaj Meena in 2015. It has been active in parts of the state’s Marwar region , working for the rights of tribal people, especially Meenas, but was never a force to reckon with until the group’s name cropped up during Monday’s Bharat Bandh.
The Nagpur-headquartered Bheem Sena’s Rajasthan unit began taking shape two years ago. The organisation formed by Sridhar Salve in Maharashtra now has units in around eight Rajasthan districts.
“WeformedMeenSenatoraise issues related to the tribal population, and have done some agitations in Dausa and Jaipur. But for the past one-and-a-half years, we have been active in Ahore tehsil of Jalore district to fight for Dalit rights,” said Pankaj Meena, a double postgraduate in English literature as well as business administration. He said the organisation has around 70,000 workers in the state.
Bheem Sena’s Rajasthan president Rajendra Meghwal said his
JAIPUR