The Rajasthan Police have lodged an FIR after some Dalits were allegedly asked to vacate their chairs during an Independence Day function at a school in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara.The FIR was lodged following a complaint by Rameshwarlal Bairwa, 35, and Gopilal Bairwa, 37, who alleged that the incident occurred at an Independence Day function at the government school in their village, Bhakliya, on August 15.“We were sitting on the chairs placed there during the programme when some people approached us and discriminated against us because of our caste,” the Bairwas alleged. They said they were abused “using caste-based slurs by the people, who, in a highly insulting tone, said: ‘You Bairwas, sit down below [on the floor]. If you sit on the chairs, where will we sit? What right do you have to sit in front of us?’”Read | CJP says ‘will visit schools in Rajasthan’, state replies, ‘outsiders banned’They allege they were intimidated and forced to vacate the chairs, claiming there were threats to shut down the Anganwadi where two women from their group worked.They allege the incident happened in front of schoolchildren, teachers and other villagers, “causing us mental trauma and deeply hurting our self-respect and social standing”.As videos of the incident went viral, the Bairwas said they have audio and video recordings of the incident, “which we are ready to hand over to the police administration during the investigation”.One of the videos recorded by a local, Badri Lal Bairwa, shows a verbal altercation between a group of people at the school as children, sitting on the ground, look on. “Padhe likhe aadmi ho… ye haalat hai (You are educated… This is the condition),” Bairwa is heard saying in the video.Story continues below this adTalking to The Indian Express, Rameshwarlal said: “The entire case is that we sat on chairs. Every year, all of us sit on the ground. But this time, there were chairs and the teacher invited us to sit on them which led to some people objecting to us, saying that we can’t sit with them.”Bagor police station SHO Bachhraj Choudhary said the investigation is ongoing. The investigation has been handed over to Deputy SP Rahul Joshi, the Circle Officer for Bhilwara’s Mandal.Badri Lal also claimed that the Independence Day function was boycotted by persons from the OBC community. On the delay in the FIR, he said there was a death in the village.The FIR has been lodged against five persons under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for unlawful assembly and criminal intimidation, as well as provisions under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.Hamza Khan is a seasoned Correspondent for The Indian Express, specifically reporting from the diverse and politically dynamic state of Rajasthan. Based in Jaipur, he provides high-authority coverage on the state's governance, legal landscape, and social issues, directly supporting the "Journalism of Courage" ethos of the publication. Expertise Politics & Governance: Comprehensive tracking of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, including policy changes (e.g., the Right to Health Bill and Anti-Mob Lynching Bills), bypoll dynamics, and the shifting power structures between the BJP and Congress. ... Read More