New Delhi: On 27 May, people all over the country exploded in anger after the pictures of the bodies of two minor girls of Shakya Maurya (OBC) community, hanging from a tree in the Katra Shahganj village of Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, appeared in the media. The girls were raped before being hanged. Sit-ins and
demonstrations were organized right from Delhi up to the district headquarters.
On 14 June, a huge demonstration was held at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi by the Badaun Balatkar Evam Hatya Virodhi Manch under the auspices of Kushwaha Samaj, Delhi. The demonstration was led by the organization’s president Surendra Kushwaha. Addressing the demonstrators, Surendra Kushwaha said that the ruling caste of UP was committing atrocities on members of the Maurya, Shakya and Kushwaha castes. He said that these castes were being punished for voting for Modi in the Lok Sabha elections. On this occasion, Vimal Kumar, Shatrughan Singh Shakya, Dr Harirama Maurya, Jai Bhagwan Saini, Himadri Kushwaha, Gita Shakya, Dinesh Maurya, Rajesh Kushwaha, Premchand Prajapati and others said that Shakya, Maurya, Kushwaha, Saini and Kachi castes were socially vulnerable and the central and state governments should make special provisions for their protection.
Published in the July 2014 issue of the Forward Press magazine
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