The “Maharashtra bandh” called by various Ambedkarite organisations in protest against an attack on a Dalit gathering at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district was on Wednesday marred by sporadic incidents of violence, road, highway and railway blockades and stone-pelting and consequent police lathi-charge, in which a 16-year-old boy was killed and more than 50 BEST buses were damaged in Mumbai alone.
Senior Dalit leader and Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar, speaking on behalf of various Ambedkarite organisations, called off the Statewide bandh at 4 pm, nine hours after the Dalit activists enforced a near total bandh in Mumbai and different parts of the State.
One Yogesh Jadhav, a SSC student, succumbed to injuries sustained during a lathi-charge that the police resorted to at Ashti village in Nanded to quell a mob that tried to stop a police van. Three police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were injured in the stone-pelting indulged in by the mob. Reports said that the condition of the injured sub-inspector, identified as one Govind Munde, was “serious”.
Normal life in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai and other satellite towns was paralysed for most part of the day, with thousands of Dalit activists staging road blockades and “rail rokos” in various places.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media that the perpetrators behind Monday’s violence at Koregaon Bhima would not be spared. He also alleged that “outsiders” were responsible for the violence.
“Few people wanted to take political milage of the incident but people of Maharashtra want peace and harmony. Outsiders comes here, makes statements which leads to tension within two caste. But people don’t want tension, they want development,” Fadnavis said, alluding indirectly to the weekend visit of Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani, Radhika Vemula, the mother of Rohith Vemula and JNU leader Umar Khalid to Pune.
Earlier in the morning, apprehending trouble en route to their work places, a majority of office-goers confined themselves to their homes, resulting in the offices of the State Government and private in downtown south Mumbai recording a very attendance during the day. Most of those who ventured to their offices either returned after having been stranded midway or were sent off to their homes by their employees early.
In Mumbai, protesters blocked traffic on the Eastern Express Highway and Western Express Highway, the two arterial road routes of Mumbai, while they also disrupted train services on the suburban networks of Central and Western Railways.
While the Central Railway cancelled as many as 110 services, the Western Railway — which witnessed rail-blockades at 10 stations on the suburban network — cancelled 60 services, including eight of the 12 air-conditioined locals.
During the road blockades witnessed across Mumbai, the protesters stoned and damaged at least 50 BMC-run BEST buses and scores of private buses parked at various places. “We are trying to identify and book cases against all those who indulged in stone throwing at various places in the city,” said a senior Mumbai official.
With no students being able to appear for an examination scheduled for the day, the Bombay University announced that it would hold another examination for those students at a later day. The University also postponed 13 examinations scheduled for the day. Similarly, the Maharashtra State Examination Board postponed the computer-typing examination scheduled from January 3 to January 7.
Trouble erupted early in the morning when the protests resorted to rail and road blockades at various places. However, police quelled the rioting mobs in the initial hours. However, the protests turned ugly at the Dalit-dominated Ramabhai Nagar at Ghatkopar, where thousands of people hit the streets and staged massive road blockades.
The protesters went on a rioting spree at Kanjurmarg railway station, where they damaged furniture, lights and drinking water machine. At Dombivli in the neighbouring Thane district, the protesters damaged a railway ticket counter. The protesters hurled stones at vehicles at Chembur, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Powai, Bhandup, Govandi and Andheri East, Thane and Navi Mumbai.
Elsewhere in Maharashtra, the response was total for the bandh called by Dalit organisations in all major towns and cities in the State, Thane, Nagpur, Pune, Beed, Latur, Solapur, Jalgaon, Dhule, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Palghar.
The traffic on the otherwise busy Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Nashik highways came to a stand still for varying periods – from an hour to four hours. On its part, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) had chosen to suspend services in sensitive districts, following Tuesday’s disturbances in which at least 187 of its buses were damaged.
While calling off the bandh organised by various Dalit organisations, Ambedkar said, “We are more than satisfied with the public response to our bandh call. We are satisfied that the State Government has announced a judicial probe into the attack on Dalits. However, our major demand that right-wing leaders Milind Ekbote and Bhide Guruji should be booked for Monday’s attack is yet to be fulfilled.