Amar Singh rattles sabre for Kshatriyas

The new Kshatriya hero has, however, set for himself a humbler task — the fight for the survival and self-respect of the community after the harassment of ‘‘the pride of Kshatriyas’’ Raja Uday Pratap Singh, his son, Raja Bhaiyya, and Dhananjay Singh — all victims of Chief Minister Mayawati.

Given the nature of the mission, the rally was earlier scheduled to be held at Pratapgarh, close to the home of Raja Bhaiyya. With Mayawati least prepared to allow him this luxury, the Rajputs were forced to shift the programme to Talkatora Stadium here.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Thakur Pratap Singh, national president of the Kshatriya Unity Council, said: ‘‘We had earlier decided to hold a rally at Lakshman Park in Lucknow on March 20 and even paid up for it but at the last minute we were told ‘due to security reasons’ permission could not be granted.’’

Singh added: ‘‘The forum is meant to get all Rajputs on one platform with one voice and one goal so that the political leadership can hear our suppressed voices. It is a non-political forum for the Rajputs, and I know what your next question will be.’’

On being asked how, after involving Amar Singh, it could still be an apolitical forum, Singh said: ‘‘Amar Singh was a Thakur before he became a Samajwadi Party member.’’

Pouring venom on Mayawati, Singh also had some harsh words for the BJP — ‘‘I have disgust and hate for the BJP which is allowing Mayawati and the BSP to do whatever they want. But for the shielding by the BJP government at the centre, the Samajwadi Praty and the Congress would have pushed BSP to its grave,’’ Pratap Singh said. Singh said Mayawati had turned POTA into a ‘Personal Termination Act’ meant to ‘‘slit throats of Rajputs’’.

The organisers plan to distribute 5,000 swords and turbans to the participants at the convention, in a throwback to the age-old Rajput tradition. With POTA as the wary cry, one could look forward to some action by them under the leadership of ‘Kshatriya Kulbhushan Thakur Amar Singh’.