TNR News Network
Hamirpur: The monthly meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Rajput Mahasabha was held at Gatosh Mahadev Temple in Hamirpur where the organisation members vowed to fight to get their longstanding demands fulfilled.
The meeting was chaired by mahasabha state president Engineer KS Jamwal and conducted by district vice-president Engineer Dalip Dattwalia.
During the session, the Hamirpur district unit was dissolved and a new executive body was formed. Ajmer Singh Thakur was unanimously elected as district president, Sandeep Dadwal as senior vice-president, Joginder Thakur as general secretary and Ravinder Saklani as finance secretary. The newly appointed office-bearers were authorised by the state executive to expand the organisation at the sub-division and panchayat levels.
Community mist stay united: Jamwal
Extending best wishes to the new team, president Jamwal alleged that successive governments were attempting to weaken the Rajput community by ignoring long-pending demands such as the formation of a General Category Commission and Rajput Welfare Board, reclassification of reservation categories and enhancement of the EWS income limit on the lines of the Centre.
He stressed that the community must stay united and struggle collectively to secure these rights.
Historical role and political strength
Professor Ashok Saryal, senior vice-president of the Mahasabha and former Vice-Chancellor of Agriculture University, Palampur, highlighted the community’s historical role in defending the nation.
“For centuries, Rajputs safeguarded India with their valour, swordsmanship and archery, resisting foreign invasions for nearly 500 years. Later, it was with guns that the British were ousted,” he said.
Saryal emphasised that in a democracy, the ballot was the community’s most powerful weapon. “Beyond party ideologies, Rajputs must support whichever representative in government or opposition voices the concerns of the general category,” he asserted.
He also warned against attempts to downplay the Rajput population in Himachal from 34 to 36 per cent to 28 per cent, calling it a deliberate bid to weaken the community’s influence.
Concerns over youth and social issues
General secretary Vijay Chandel urged internal reforms within the community. He stressed the need to preserve traditional family values and marriage practices instead of rising love marriages that often lead to social rifts.
He further stated that talented Rajput youth were facing unemployment and marital challenges due to reservation policies. “Schemes like incentives for inter-caste marriages are creating imbalance. Some girls from reserved categories marry employed Rajput youth under love affairs to obtain government grants,” he said.
The meeting was also attended by Dr Amar Singh Guleria, president of the Mandi unit; Ravinder Guleria, joint secretary; Sumit Thakur, IT cell head; Anil Thakur, youth wing president; Dr Ashwani Rana, head of intellectual cell; and former Hamirpur unit president Prakash Thakur.
