After Etawah and Kannauj, there is news of ethnic violence from Prayagraj. Earlier, Ahir Regiment took a village of Brahmins hostage, now Bhim Army activists have sabotaged the establishments of upper caste shopkeepers in Prayagraj. In fact, Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) national president and Lok Sabha MP Chandrashekhar Azad was arrested in Prayagraj on Sunday. He was going to meet the families of the incidents of incidents in Kaushambi and Karchana. Chandrashekhar has been raising his voice against the atrocities on Dalits across the country. When he was stopped himself, he sat on a dharna in the circuit house with his supporters.
Thousands of supporters of Chandrashekhar created a ruckus on the road in Karchana area to protest against his house arrest. Many photos and videos of police vehicles breaking and stone pelting on buses are going viral. It is reported that 7 private vehicles including 8 police and buses have been vandalized. The special thing here is that there were only upper castes shops on the target of Bhima Army in Bhaderwa market. PAC and RAF have also reached the spot to control the situation in Karchana. More than 50 miscreants have been arrested by the police.
At around 8 pm, Chandrashekhar Azad was sent to Varanasi from Prayagraj in the presence of police force. There was a preparation to send him to Delhi from there. On the other hand, news is coming that Chandrashekhar has also received threats to kill him. It is obvious that seeds of ethnic violence are being sown in Uttar Pradesh.
1-Aheer Regiment, Bhima Army and Karni Sena, Ethnic identity conflict
The demand for a separate Ahir Regiment in the Indian Army has been raised by the Yaduvanshi (Ahir) community. This demand is to organize the Yadav community on the pretext of strengthening the social and military identity. In March 2025 in Karnawal, Mathura, the Bhim Army workers were accused of demolishing the board of Ahir Regiment. The incident was widely publicized on social media, which can further instigate tension between Yadav and Dalit communities.
The Bhima Army, which was founded by Chandrashekhar Azad in 2015, is active in areas like Saharanpur, Meerut, and Shamli in western Uttar Pradesh, who is ready to do anything for Dalit rights. On Sunday, Bhima Army workers were accused of stone pelting and violence in Prayagraj’s Karchana, in which many people were injured. It is being told that there was anger against the upper castes, especially the Thakurs.
The Karni Sena, which represented the Rajput (Thakur) community, held two major demonstrations in Agra in March and April 2025. These demonstrations were against the controversial statement made by Samajwadi Party MP Ramjilal Suman on Rana Sanga. Violent demonstrations at Suman’s residence on 26 March and the demonstration of arms at the blood self -respecting conference on 12 April and inflammatory slogans raised outrage against the upper castes, especially the Thakurs, in Dalit and OBC communities. Karni Sena workers have described these demonstrations as a symbol of Rajput pride. Obviously, the more this tension increases, the more the possibility of caste violence in the state will increase.
2-Brahmin-Yaadava conflict, new dimension of social stress
There was never tension between Brahmin and Yadav communities in the history of Uttar Pradesh. But in recent months, it seems like how old hostilities are there between the two communities. However, it is more visible on social media. Common people do not mean this. But a spark is enough to incite big fire many times. Therefore, it should not be taken lightly.
The incident of alleged attack by Brahmins increased tension in Aheripur, Etawah, but a Yadav narrator, Mukut Mani Yadav. It is alleged that the story of the narrator was cut and he was treated derogatory. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav gave a statement on this and gave air to the notion of hatred against the upper castes. This is why Akhilesh Yadav went to Kanpur to meet Shubham Shukla’s family on the space journey on Sunday itself for damage control.
Earlier, Gagan Yadav, the young leader of Samajwadi Party in Kannauj, was accused of inciting violence in Brahmin-Pradhan village. The incident was promoted on social media as a Brahmin-Yaadava conflict, which further increased the tension between the two communities.
3-Who is the one who wants ethnic struggle in UP
Uttar Pradesh has been the center of ethnic and social mobility for a long time, the most populous state in India. According to Hukum Singh Panel (2001), the other backward class (OBC) population in the state is around 54.05%, with the Yadav community (9–11%) the most influential. The upper castes, such as Brahmins (12–14%) and Thakur (7-8%) are social and politically important. The Dalit communities, especially Jatav, represent about 25% of the population.
It is obvious that this ethnic diversity has been affecting the political and social background here. After independence, the Congress continued to form a government in the state for four decades on the strength of Dalits, upper castes and Muslims. After the effectiveness of Mandal politics, the Samajwadi Party made the Congress powerless from the state forever. To make Mandal ineffective, the BJP adopted the mantra of Kamandal and held the vote bank of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. On the strength of Dalits and the backward, Bahujan Samaj Party also run the politics of the state for a few days according to its own.
But now political parties have become active about their vote due to the weakening of BSP, confusion about BJP in Brahmins. Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party are at the forefront of this game. The vulture vision of both is on Dalit votes and Brahmin votes. For this, both parties have been their own positive approach to woo both classes, but the negative approach is also being tried in a manner to incite against each other.
In fact, the Samajwadi Party knows that if the Thakurist government will be settled in the state, then Brahmins can break from BJP and come towards us. The Samajwadi Party also knows that if there is Thakur vs Dalit in the state, then it is sure to lose BJP. Dalits will not leave the opportunity to adopt the Samajwadi Party instead of BJP. SP MP Ramji Lal Suman probably had a well -planned conspiracy of the party on Rana Sanga. Later, after the performance of the Karni Sena in Agra and the threat to Ram Ji Lal Suman, Akhilesh’s standing in favor of his MP and his standing on his point can be seen by linking this fact.
Similarly, the BJP also knows that if the Brahmins in the state have to be stopped from going to the Samajwadi Party, then there should be something that keeps them in the BJP. It is obvious that the more it will increase as the Yadav vs Brahmin struggle, the BJP will benefit. In the end, Brahmins will think that BJP is better than Samajwadi Party for us. The BJP also knows that the best way to stop Dalits from Samajwadi Party is to somehow the Yadav vs Dalit struggle starts in UP.
4- Hate against the upper castes, what is increasing?
The notion of hatred against the upper castes, especially Brahmins and Thakurs, arises from historical inequalities. Dalit and OBC communities consider the upper castes a symbol of social and economic domination. The Mandal Commission and reservation policies further increased this dissatisfaction, because the upper castes feel that their access to opportunities has decreased. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is trying to increase the distance of his gap by talking about the backward backward every day.
Organizations like Samajwadi Party and Bhima Army have tried to strengthen the Dalit and OBC vote bank by targeting the upper castes. For example, Ramjilal Suman’s statement was used by the SP as a political weapon against the upper castes. Akhilesh Yadav termed the Karni Sena’s performance as BJP, which has further promoted the notion of hatred against Thakurs.
The upper caste community, especially Thakur and Brahmin, are also resorting to the Karni Sena and Parashuram army to strengthen their identity. The Karni Sena performs identity and pride of the Thakur community. It is obvious that such demonstrations work only to fill poison against one caste community.
5-Is Uttar Pradesh moving towards ethnic violence?
The events of Mathura, Prayagraj, Etawah, and Agra definitely reflect social stress. Obviously, all this is being done keeping in mind the elections. But even after these incidents, it cannot be said that UP stands at the mouth of ethnic violence. Because Indian society is not so weak that these sporadic incidents are going to affect it. The fierce activities of the Karni Sena and the Ahir Regiment and the Bhima Army are reminiscent of the ethnic conflicts of Bihar in the 1990s. But the level of hate has not increased so much that the incidents of massacre like Bihar should be in UP.
In fact, no formula of the opposition is working against the staunch Hindutva of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is obvious that to break the BJP, it is necessary to eliminate the unity of Hindus. To stop the BJP, the opposition is working on its own formula. It is clear that at any cost the Yogi Adityanath government will not allow such violence in UP. For this, the government is constantly using the Gangster Act and NSA.