LUCKNOW: After the Bareilly District Magistrate in a Facebook post raised questions over the Kasganj violence, another UP official wrote “bhagwa (saffron)” was behind Kasganj killing.
Speaking to The Sunday Express, Rashme Varun, the Deputy Director (Statistics), Saharanpur division stated that “bhagwa (saffron)” was behind the death of Chandan Gupta.
Communal clashes erupted in Kasganj after a ‘Tiranga Yatra’ motorcycle rally taken out to celebrate Republic Day and were chanting Vante Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
When they reached a minority community-dominated locality, some “anti-social elements” pelted stones and opened fire. In this firing, Chandan was killed and two others were injured.
In her Facebook post Rashme wrote, “Toh yeh thi Kasganj ki Tiranga rally. Koi nayi baat nahin hai yeh. Ambedkar Jayanti par Saharanpur Sadak Dudhli mein bhi aisi hi rally nikali gayi thi. Jisme se Ambedkar gayab they, ya ye kahiye bhagwa rang mein vileen ho gaye they. Kasganj mein bhi yahi hua. Tiranga toh shavasan mein raha. Bhagwa dhwaj sheersh (aasan) par. Jo ladka mara gaya usey kisi dusare teesare samuday ne nahin mara. Usey kesari, safed aur hare rang ki aad lekar bhagwa ne khud mara (So, this was the Tiranga rally of Kasganj. There is nothing new here. On the day of Ambedkar Jayanti too, a similar rally was taken out through Saharanpur’s Sadak Dudhli, where Ambedkar was missing or, let’s say, immersed in the saffron colour. This is what happened in Kasganj. Tricolour remained absent and saffron flag was on top. The youth who died was not killed by any other community, but by saffron, taking shelter of the Tricolour).”
“Jo nahin bataya ja raha woh yeh ki… Abdul Hameed ki moorti ya tasveer pe Tiranga fehraney ki bajaaye is tathakathit Tiranga rally mein chalney ki zabardasti ki gayi, aur kesariya, safed, harey aur bhagwa rang pe laal rang bhari pad gaya (What is not being told here is that instead of the Tricolour being put on the statue or photo of martyr Abdul Hameed, force was used to participate in this so-called Tiranga rally, and in the end, the colour red overpowered the colours of saffron, white and green),” Rashme added.
When asked for an explanation, she said she wrote her post “around five-six days back”. “My intention was not to hurt anybody… I wrote the word ‘bhagwa’ by mistake but without any intention, and I apologise for my post,” Varun was quoted as saying by The Sunday Express.