- A fort that has emerged as a symbol of tribal identity assertion in Rajasthan, after members of the Meena community pulled down a bhagwa (saffron) flag hoisted there by Hindutva organisations last week.
- The trouble began earlier this month, when Yuva Shakti Manch, a Hindutva organisation associated with the VHP, hoisted a saffron flag with the words ‘Jai Shri Ram’ inscribed on it, on an electric pole in the premises of the fort.
- The Meenas consider the fort sacred as it houses the temple of Aamba Maata, a clan goddess of the community. According to community leaders, hoisting the bhagwa flag with the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ inscription hurt the sentiments of the Meenas.
- Members of the Meena community, led by independent MLA Ramkesh Meena, gathered at the fort on July 22 and took down the flag. From a video of the incident, it appears that as the flag was being pulled down, a part of it tore off. This led to outrage by Hindutva organisations, as the video went viral on Facebook and Twitter. Both sides filed police complaints against each other at the Transport Nagar police station.
- Since then, a war of hashtags between the Meena activists and Hindutva organisations has broken out on social media.
- While the Meenas say they are asserting their independent identity and resisting attempts at being appropriated under the Hindu religion, saffron activists are expressing outrage over the purported insult to the saffron flag.
- The Sudarshan News TV channel and its editor Suresh Chavhanke,, have added fuel to the fire by running a TV campaign for the saffron flag and announcing a massive gathering at Ambagarh to once again hoist the saffron flag there on August 1.
- Social groups in the state and several users online have accused Chavhanke of running a divisive campaign and using casteist slurs against the Meena community.
- Tribal Army founder Hansraj Meena accused the Hindutva organisations of trying to subvert tribal identity and trying to saffronise the Meena community
- Ambagarh, also known as Amagarh, was built by Sawai Jai Singh II in the 18th century. However, oral legend says it belonged to the Meenas before that.
- Before the Kacchwa rulers began ruling Jaipur, the area was inhabited by five confederacies of Meenas or Minas, called the Panch-Wara.
- The fort, or what remains of it, lies in a state of ruin, with neither the state department of geology nor the Archaeological Survey of India taking any steps towards its conservation.
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