200 booked for rioting as Prajapati Samaj Yatra tries to enter Delhi

Several youths belonging to the Prajapati Samaj sustained minor injuries after Ghaziabad police used force to stop them from marching towards Delhi.

The Ghaziabad police have booked 217 people under charges of rioting for violation of prohibitory orders, an officer said on Sunday, 3 March.

The accused were part of a Sankalp Yatra (resolution march), and wanted to cross over to Delhi via Ghaziabad to hand over a memorandum to the President of India, with a demand of reservation and participation in politics.

They also took out the march through the Sahibabad Site-4 Industrial Area on Friday night, 1 March.

The protesters also appealed to people on social media to join the protest. 

When police tried to stop the yatra, the participants started pelting stones at the police personnel and also damaged some vehicles, the police have alleged, due to which force had to be used to disperse the mob.

The Ghaziabad police also claimed that the protesters took over a banquet hall and sat down in the road, creating a commotion.

An FIR was lodged in the matter at Link Road Police Station, under sections 147 (rioting) and 188 (violation of prohibitory orders) on Saturday, 2 March, Trans-Hindon deputy commissioner of police Nimish Patil said on Sunday.

Though the greater part of the rally was stopped, the police allowed five people to proceed towards Delhi on Saturday.

Police are trying to identify the rioters through CCTV footage, Patil said.

Reacting to the incident and the FIR, the Samajwadi Party expressed its solidarity and called the Adityanath Yogi-led BJP state government "anti backward". Posting on social media platform X, the SP said:

'Anti-backward (people) BJP government! It is condemnable that the Uttar Pradesh government stopped the Prajapati Samaj Yatra from Haridwar to Delhi demanding caste census.

'In this government, the rights of Dalits and backward people are being violated and power is being misused for raising their voice. The government should stop its dictatorship; travel should be allowed.'

Dara Singh Prajapati, the president of Rashtriya Prajapati Mahasabha, said his community simply wants to exercise their right to active political involvement.

Speaking in Meerut last week, Singh demanded a census, emphasising that their allocation of 30 seats nationwide should correspond to their population.

“People of the society will refrain from voting if participation is not given. No share, no vote,” he said.

The Prajapati Sankalp Yatra commenced from Haridwar on 27 February and was scheduled to culminate at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Friday, 1 March.