Bundi: The police force was deployed at Sangavda, for the safety of the groom Parashuram and his family members who were preparing for the wedding. He was provided with Z plus security by the Rajasthan government as family feared opposition by the villagers.
The entire scheduled caste community came together to ensure that the teacher Parashuram Meghwal, would take out his bindori (wedding procession) through the village.
At least 80 Policemen from 4 different police stations provided security for the groom while he took out his bindori (wedding procession). Tehsildar, Nayab Tehsildar, Patwari was also present to keep an eye on the wedding procession.
Groom Parashuram had registered a complaint to the district administration to provide him with security at his wedding. At 11: 30, the Bindori procession took off visiting many villages. It has also stopped at many temples seeking blessings from God. It returned at 2 pm. Parashuram was a teacher at Jawra Town.
The wedding is scheduled to happen at Anta on Tuesday. Monday saw the ritual of Mandap-Bindora that was ended peacefully without resistance.
For the Dalits, it became an issue of self-respect that even so long after independence and being given equal rights in the constitution, “our community is discriminated against” by upper castes. “Since independence, this was the second bindori (wedding procession) taken out on a mare by a Dalit bridegroom in the village,” said Babulal Verma, president of the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Kalyan Samiti, Bundi.
Defying tradition and upper-caste opposition, Parashuram, 25, took out his bindori (wedding procession) on Monday evening and since then he and his family are living in fear instead of enjoying the wedding ceremonies.
However, the villagers said that this is an attempt to malign the village unnecessarily,
“We had no objection to the Bindori before or now. Inexplicably, such activities malign the village,” said the Sarpanch’ husband Shyamlal Gurjar. He also accused the former sarpanch Ramchandra Meghwal of doing politics unnecessarily.
