Maha trembling with Dalit rage

Massive protests erupted across Maharashtra on Tuesday as Dalits took to streets, blocked traffic and hurled stones at buses in Mumbai and various other parts of the State in protest against the killing of a youth at Koregaon Bhima during the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon in Pune. The protests turned violent at many places with at least 25 vehicles burnt down. 

Dalit organisations have called for a Statewide bandh on Wednesday. Dalits were celebrating the January 1, 1818, victory of British troops over Peshwa Bajirao II’s army in Koregaon Bhima in Pune on Monday when the youth was killed by miscreants.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a judicial probe into the murder.  Fadnavis told the media, “A sitting judge of the Bombay High Court will head the enquiry into the incident. At the same time, I am ordering a State-CID enquiry into the death of 28-year-old Rahul Phatangale, who was killed in the incident. The State Government would pay an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of Phatangale. We will initiate stern action against those spreading rumours on social media. I appeal to political parties not fuel tensions, and people not to believe rumours”. 

Senior Dalit leader and Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar called for as “Maharashtra bandh” on Wednesday. He accused Hindu right-wing leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, who head Hindu Ekta Aghadi and Shivraj Pratishthan respectively, of inciting attacks on the Dalits at Koregaon-Bhima. In a related development, the Pimpri police registered an FIR against Ekbote and Bhide. Based on a complaint registered by a Dalit woman, they have been booked under under the Atrocities Act and other sections of the IPC.

There was a major backlash of the Koregaon-Bhima incident in Mumbai, where thousands of Dalits staged intense protests in various north-eastern suburbs like Sion, Chembur, Mankhurd, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Mulund and other strongholds and disrupted traffic for several hours on Eastern Express highway demanding stringent action against the culprits behind Monday’s attack in Pune.

The Dalit protesters also staged “rail roko” at Chembur and Govandi and brought the train traffic to a halt on the Central Railway’s Harbour network between Kurla and Panvel for more than five hours from 11.45 am. The CR authorities cancelled 84 trains on Tuesday. Protesters staged “autorickshaw roko” at Mulund.        

Similarly,  there were protests in various parts of the State, including Aurangabad, Jalgaon,Ahmednagar, Dhule, Beed, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Thane and Palghar as Dalits expressed their angst.

A massive stone pelting was witnessed at Aurangabad, where several State-run MSRTC buses were damaged. The Ambedkar Marathwada University cancelled all the examinations scheduled for Tuesday. Most schools and colleges remained closed during the day.

Not wanting to take any chance, police imposed restrictions under section 144 of the IPC in Aurangabad and parts of Western Maharashtra, including Koregaon Bhima and areas surrounding it in Pune.

The police bandobast has been intensified at all sensitive areas, said an officer. 

Meanwhile, NCP president  Sharad Pawar said the Koregaon Bhima disturbances expose the failure of the Devendra Fadnavis Government in Maharashtra.

Rooting for a comprehensive probe into the Koregaon Bhima incident, Pawar said the Government should have taken cognizance that it was 200th anniversary of the war and should have made arrangements. “Why did the State Government not take adequate precautions to ensure peaceful conduct of the event.  We have never witnessed such a violence at the event. The event was being celebrated peacefully for 200 years. Owing to its Government’s lapses, there was confusion and rumour-mongering, resulting in the violence,” the NCP leader said.

On his part, Fadnavis said the attendance at the Koregaon Bhima event was more than it was at any previous event in the past. “Nearly 15,000 to 20,000 people go there to observe the anniversary of the battle. This year being the 200th year, nearly 3.5 lakh people came.

We had deployed six police companies to control the situation. Some vehicles were torched and stone were pelted, but we succeeded in preventing the violence from turning into a riot-like situation,” said the Chief Minister.

Distancing his party from the incident, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut charged that there appeared to be “premeditated” conspiracy behind Monday’s incident to incite caste riots in the State. “The State Government should investigate and expose the hidden hand behind the incident,” Raut said.