Raja Mihir Bhoj statue row: Haryana govt forms 7-member committee to resolve dispute

The committee comes amid a tussle between the Rajput and Gurjar communities to claim the legacy of 9th-century ruler Raja Mihir Bhoj.

Chandigarh: Amid a tussle between the Rajput and Gurjar communities to claim the legacy of 9th-century ruler Raja Mihir Bhoj, the Haryana government has formed a seven-member committee to examine the historical facts in this regard and resolve this dispute as soon as possible. As per the notification issued by the government in this regard, the seven-member committee will be headed by Karnal divisional commissioner.

The other six members of the committee include the inspector general of police (IGP), Karnal Range, who is the vice-chairman and deputy commissioner, Kaithal, who will be its member secretary. While as Superintendent of police (SP), Kaithal, two professors of history from Panjab University, Chandigarh, Rajeev Lochan and Priyatosh Sharma, and two advocates from Gurjar and Rajput communities will be the members of the committee. The seven-member committee has been asked by the government to submit its report within a stipulated period of four weeks in this regard.

The setting up of the committee comes amid a controversy over the unveiling of the statue of the 9th century emperor, Raja Mihir Bhoj with the Rajpur and Gurjar communities staking claim to the emperor's legacy. State Government's Media Secretary Praveen Atre said that the Haryana government believes in resolving all disputes through dialogue be it social issues or anything else.

“As far as the Samrat Mihir Bhoj dispute is concerned, the government is not doing any politics in it, rather there should be no dispute of any kind between the Gurjar and Rajput communities and people of both the communities should sit together and move forward on this issue while maintaining mutual brotherhood,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Keval Dhingra said that the government forming a committee to resolve this issue, is a welcome move. “But in this government there is no effort to settle any dispute on time,” he said. The statue of Emperor Mihir Bhoj was unveiled on 20 July 2023 at Dhand Chowk in Kaithal. In front of this statue, the name Gurjar Pratihar Emperor Mihir Bhoj Mahan was written.

People of Gurjar community consider Mihir Bhoj as their ancestor. This unveiling program was being organized by the people of Gurjar community. That's why Gurjar community had written Mihir Bhoj as Gurjar Pratihar Samrat. On the other hand, people of Rajput community are staking their claim on Mihir Bhoj. Rajput leaders say that Mihir Bhoj was a Rajput king and it is not acceptable to write Gurjar before his name.