Balmiki Samaj members in Ghaziabad burn effigy of Rakesh Tikait

The Balmiki Samaj members have been holding protests over the issue inside the Balmiki park of Navyug market here for two days. Uttar Pradesh unit president of Balmiki Samaj Pradeep Chauhan demanded an apology from Tikait for the incident and said the sit-in protest would continue till the accused are arrested. 

The crash occurred on June 30 when the BJP workers were carrying out a procession on a flyway where the protesters, chiefly supporters of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, have been camping since November 2020, according to eye-witnesses. 

A scuffle had broken between the members of the two sides on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway and soon they were attacking each other with sticks which led to injuries to some people, they said. 

While the farmers alleged that the episode was a conspiracy of the BJP and the RSS to quell the seven-month-old protest, the ruling party workers claimed that abuses and casteist slurs were hurled against them when they were taking out a welcome procession for the newly-appointed BJP general secretary Amit Valmiki that led to the clash.