e n

In Rajasthan, Meenas resist RSS’s co-option of their culture

MLA Ramkesh Meena has categorically stated that the Adivasis are not Hindus, that they are nature worshippers and have their own religion, and saffron ideology and traditions should not be foisted on them. His assertion has antagonized the RSS, whose attempt to occupy the Amagarh Fort seems to have been foiled for now, writes Bhanwar Meghwanshi

An ancient fort called Amagarh (Ambagarh), revered by the Meena tribal community, sits atop a hillock in the Ghat Gate locality of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. The fort houses the temple of Ambaji, the tutelary deity of the Meenas of Nadhla gotra. What some people did there in the name of Hindutva has led to a confrontation between Adivasis and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: In Rajasthan, Meenas resist RSS’s co-option of their culture

About The Author

Bhanwar Meghwanshi

Author, journalist and socio-cultural activist Bhanwar Meghwanshi is the editor of Shunyakal.com. His autobiography ‘Main ek Karsewak tha' is about his early days as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker and how he left the organization and became its staunch critic. The English translation of the book was published recently under the title ‘I Could not be Hindu’.

Related Articles

Ram Temple embezzlement: How the Dalitbahujan see it
‘Had the offerings been small, there would have been no problem. All the staff would have made merry and no one would have noticed....
‘Dhamaal 4’ and the problem with laughing at the margins
Indian comedy is capable of laughter-filled entertainment that does not depend, like in ‘Dhamaal 4’, on body-shaming, misogyny or the caricaturing of labouring and...
Odisha: Mob violence is not simply a law-and-order problem
The challenge before Odisha is not merely administrative but moral. Law and order or economic growth alone cannot sustain democracy. A republic survives because...
A classroom for those left behind
Educational spaces can often reproduce social hierarchies through uneven access to resources, linguistic barriers, and fear of being judged based on one’s background. Against...
Who owns a woman’s story? Rumours, reputation and resistance in ‘Maa Behen’
Maa Behen (Mother-Sister) are everyday North Indian words that serve a double function – the most sacred of kin relations and simultaneously the category...