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Nagaraju murder in Hyderabad: Caste, not religion, is at the heart of the matter

Those who are questioning the Muslim community and their faith for the murder of Nagaraju should ask themselves: Had Nagaraju, a Dalit, married a Reddy, Kamma, Sharma, Trivedi, Chaturvedi, Singh, Yadav, Kurmi or Kushwaha, would they have accepted it? Read Vidya Bhushan Rawat’s analysis

After the cold-blooded murder of Billipuram Nagaraju, a young man from Hyderabad, the mainstream media almost all over country went into mourning. The common refrain was that only Muslims are “like that” and are the only people dead opposed to love. 

Nagaraju had married his childhood friend Ashreen Sultana at an Arya Samaj temple. It was reported that Nagaraju was even ready to convert to Islam, if that would make his fiancée’s family consent to their marriage. But they did not give their consent. The two got married on 31 January 2022. A leading online magazine ran a story saying that the wedding went off smoothly as Arya Samaj has no issues with inter-religious marriages. However, before the wedding, Ashreen was made to convert to Hinduism and renamed Pallavi. That is because Arya Samaj doesn’t perform weddings unless both the bride and the groom are Hindus.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: Nagaraju murder in Hyderabad: Caste, not religion, is at the heart of the matter

About The Author

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social activist, author and documentary filmmaker. He has authored 'Dalit, Land and Dignity'; 'Press and Prejudice'; 'Ambedkar, Ayodhya aur Dalit Andolan; 'Impact of Special Economic Zones in India'; and 'Tark Ke Yoddha'. His films – 'The Silence of Tsunami', 'The Politics of Ram Temple', 'Ayodhya: Virasat Ki Jung', 'Badlav ke aur: Struggle of Balmikis of Uttar Pradesh' and 'Living on the Edges' – explore a wide range of contemporary sociopolitical issues.

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