Managing the memories of different communities and reinterpreting them at the local level to suit the logic of a particular political group, is an oft-observed phenomenon in the ongoing political processes of the country. Lesser known historical events associated with particular communities are searched out and converted into popular memory in a way that suits the political agenda of the concerned political forces. The article is focused on one such attempt of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party to search for space among the dalits of Uttar Pradesh by looking for heroes of their communities, creating warring identities against Muslim invaders, and relocating them in their broader project of constructing communal memories among Hindus as a whole, including the dalit castes.
