The incident of destroying a holy Dhwaj Sthambha belonging to the Vanavasis (Tribals) by forest ranger Bhaskar Goud alias Abdul Rahman has triggered tension in the agency village of Telangana.
On 30 March, a day after Shri Ramnavami, the Vanvaasi of Gummadiwali village in Aswaraopet Mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district prepared to place a new Dhwaj Stambha made up of a Neem tree’s trunk in Ganganama temple as per their age-old indigenous tradition. These Vanavasis brought the tree trunk from the nearby forest by taking prior permission from forest officials. While they were preparing to erect in front of the temple as ‘Dhwaj Stambha’, suddenly forest officials headed by ranger Adbudl Rahman reached the temple, cut down the holy Dhwaj Stambha and crushed it into pieces, ignoring the pleas of locals.
The news of the destruction of Dhwaj Stambha spread like wildfire in the district. The angry tribals of the local villages have gathered in heavy numbers and rushed to the divisional forest office, demanding justice and immediate suspension of forest ranger Abdul Rahman for insulting their sentiments and indigenous traditions. The angry tribals were pacified with the assurance from the local police officers and politicians to arrange a new tree trunk and an apology from Abdul Rahman.
Locals say that the forest ranger recently converted to Islam from Hindutva and attributing ‘Religious Angle’ to his action.
