Ambedkar statue in Nawada village damaged, cops probe caste angle

Narhat police station in-charge Dharmendra Prasad told The Indian Express: “We will soon name the accused once we have evidence. We are looking into every aspect, including possible involvement of upper-caste people or anyone with vested interests.”

Hasanpura village, with 250-odd SC and OBC households, under Narhat police station, is situated between Narhat block town and Khanwa, both dominated by upper-caste Bhumihars.

The six-foot-tall statue of Ambedkar in his classic pose was installed on a seven-foot podium near the main road of the village in 2015. Ramswarup played a key role in installing the statue, which was unveiled by then Bihar Food and Civil Supplies Minister Shyam Rajak on April 15 that year.

Ravishankar Bharti (25), son of Ramswarup and one of three persons in the village who have studied till Class 12, said: “We do not know much about reservation. We only know that Baba Saheb gave us the Constitution and is the symbol of our rights. We thought long about installing his statue, and it took us two and a half years to do so on government land with personal donations. Upper-caste people of the area do not like it if we assert ourselves. We are a minority.”

Ravishankar, a hawker, said he did not know who damaged the statue. “But surely there is provocation to foment caste conflict,” he added.

Jaldhari Rajvanshi, a village elder, said there was a sharp upper caste-backward caste divide in the area. “Two months ago, a boy from an SC community was mistreated in Khanwa. There have been many cases of such people facing abusive language when our livestock enter their fields. But most cases are not reported to police because we have to live together.” Rambriksh Rajvanshi, another villager, said, “We cannot touch idols in temples. Our MP Giriraj Singh adopted Khanwa panchayat, under which our village comes. He should ensure our protection.”

Hasanpura villagers said they understood little about reservation. “When there is no government employee in the village, how do we know about benefits of reservation?” said Ramchander Rajvanshi.

Hasanpura is in Hisua Assembly segment, represented by the BJP. The village has a primary school. The children walk 2.5 km to go to high school in Khanwa. Only eight people have passed Class 10 boards, all after the year 2000. About 70 per cent villagers between 18 and 45 years work as daily wagers in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Mumbai. Those who have stayed back work in brick kilns and farms.

Case IO Mangal Singh said: “We are studying phone call and location details to narrow down suspects.” Asked if this was an attempt of caste polarisation, he said, “We are looking into these possibilities.” Asked how often caste conflict is reported, Singh said: “In the last three and a half months, we lodged five cases.”