Seers in Rajasthan have been self-immolating or dying by suicide demanding protection of the religiously significant Aadibadri and Kanakanchal hills in Bharatpur district from illegal miners
New Delhi: Rajasthan has once again become talk of the town after a Hindu seer was found murdered in his house in Bhakhrawali village of Hanumangarh on 17 August morning.
The Sadhu has been identified as 75-year-old Chetan Das. Further probe is underway. Reports said that the body of the seer was found by some villagers who went to give him food on Wednesday.
According to police, initial investigation suggested that there were some injury marks on his body. Blood was also found around his body.
However, this is not the first incident of Hindu seers death in Rajasthan. In 2020, a temple priest was burnt alive over property dispute in Karauli’s Saptora police station area.
On 21 July this year, a seer in Bharatpur’s Deeg self immolated while protesting against illegal mining.
Just a couple of days ahead of Deeg’s incident, another seer in the same district climbed atop a mobile tower and refused to come down until a ban is imposed on stone mining in the area.
Rajasthan becoming killing field for Hindu seers
Seers in Rajasthan have been self-immolating or dying by suicide demanding protection of the religiously significant Aadibadri and Kanakanchal hills in Bharatpur district from illegal miners.
Scores of seers have been protesting for over 550 days against illegal mining in the Brij Chaurasi pilgrimage circuit, associated with Lord Krishna, in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.
The seers were in rage over the Rajasthan government’s failure to address their grievance and the alleged threats by the police to register cases against them.
For the unversed, the demand for a ban on mining in Brij Chaurasi is nearly two decades old. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in 2005 had banned mining within half a kilometer of the Brij Chaurasi circuit.
In 2007, a committee recommended a ban on mining within 500 metres of religious places as well as in the Brij Chaurasi pilgrimage circuit.
The Bharatpur district magistrate in 2012 recommended a ban on mining in the region.
Seer self-immolates in Bharatpur over ‘illegal mining’
On 20 July, 2022, a 60-year-old seer set himself on fire following protests over illegal stone mining in Deeg town of Bharatpur.
Giving details of the incident, Khoh police station SHO Vinod Kumar had sad that the seer – Vijay Das – was initially standing at a distance from the site of the protest before self immolating.
He was referred to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital with 80 per cent burn. On 23 July, he succumbed to his burn injuries.
Raje once again launched a scathing attack on Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, saying that their negligence led to the death of Vijay Das.
“The seer had to protest against the illegal mining. The death could have been averted if the system acted on the demands of saints. The situation became so worse that Vijay Das lost his patience and immolated himself,” said Vasundhara Raje.
BJP MP from Bharatpur, Ranjita Koli, demanded CBI inquiry into the death of seer Vijay Baba. “He was fighting for the people, not for his personal gain,” Koli added.
Vijay Das sat on a dharna along with other priests against illegal mining in the Brij Chaursai pilgrim circuit, associated with Lord Krishna, in Bharatpur.
Earlier in July, seer named Baba Hariboldas had threatened to immolate himself before Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s residence over the mining problem, He deferred it when officials sought some time.
It is worth mentioning that representatives of the protesting saints had met Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in October last year after which she asked the Gehlot government to declare the area of concern as a reserved forest and put a stop to mining. However, no action was taken by the state government officials.
Seer climbs mobile tower, protest against illegal mining
Another seer Narayan Das, who was also part of the dharna against illegal mining, on 19 July climbed atop a mobile tower in Bharatpur’s Deeg and denied to come down until a ban is imposed in stone mining in the Brij Chaurasi area.
Seer commits suicide over alleged land dispute
On 4 August, 60-year-old seer – Ravinath – died by suicide over a land dispute in Rajasthan’s Jalore. Priests of the ashram where Ravinath belonged accused BJP MLA from Bhinmal Poora Ram Choudhary of abetting suicide.
According to a report by India Today, Ravinath in his suicide note mentioned land dispute and also appealed to the administration not to conduct a post-mortem of his body.
Police said that MLA Poora Ram Choudhary is the owner of the land behind the ashram. A dispute started when the MLA decided to construct a path on the land owned by the ashram.
Three days before the seer’s death, the MLA had sent some men to take the measurement of the land in the ashram premises.
Meanwhile, Choudhary dismissed the allegations and demanded fair probe into the matter. “The allegations are false. I have on the contrary surrendered my land for the hermitage. I urge for a fair investigation into the matter. This appears to me a case of murder and Ravinath must get justice,” the MLA had said.
To examine the facts and the alleged involvement of its MLA, the opposition BJP in Rajasthan has formed a three-member committee to examine the facts.
Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, MLA Jogeshwar Garg and former parliamentary secretary Jogaram Patel were made the members of the committee.
The case is now being investigated by the CID-CB.
2020: Temple priest burnt alive over land dispute in Rajasthan’s Karauli district
In October 2020, a temple priest was burnt alive by six accused over property dispute in Karauli. According to reports, the accused threw petrol and set him ablaze.
Victim, 55-year-old Babulal Vaishnav was rushed to a hospital but he succumbed to his burn injuries in Jaipur the next day.
The main accused in the incident, identified as Kailash Meena, was arrested by the police.
“There was a dispute about the land and the victim’s dying declaration was that Meena threw petrol on him and set him on fire. A total of five accused have been named and we have constituted teams to find the other accused,” a ToI reported had quoted Superintendent of police (SP) Karauli Mridul Kachawa as saying.
There was also another version to the Hindu seer’s killing. As per officials, the priest self immolated but his statement before he died against the accused was considered sacrosanct and therefore, a case of murder was registered in the matter.
In his statement, the priest had said that he and his family used to do farming on 15 bighas land of the temple which the main accused had apparently been trying to capture illegally.
The report further said that accused Meena along with five others visited the house of the priest and they had a heated argument. It was then the main accused threw petrol on the priest and set him on fire.
The land dispute matter was also reported to the village panchayat who had asked Meena not to interfere and allow the priest to continue to reside there.
After the priest died, Sadhus and people of Brahmin community in Rajasthan carried out massive protest in front of the hospital where he died.
BJP leader Ram Kadam has attacked Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He asked, “Does the sensitivity of Rahul Gandhi and his party members vary depending on the caste or religion of the victim and the state politics.”
BJP leader and former CM of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje also attacked the Congress government in the state. Taking to Twitter, she said that the crime graph in Rajasthan continues to rise and asked the Congress to wake up from its slumber and ensure that the guilty be punished.
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