The town has been tense since April 13. (Express photo)
Since April 13, the town of Phagwara in Kapurthala district has been on the edge after clashes between Dalits and pro-Hindu outfits following attempts by Dalit outfits to rename Gol Chowk, a traffic intersection in the town, as Samvidhan Chowk, in the honour Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar on his birth anniversary on April 14.
A young boy injured in the clash is still battling for life at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in Ludhaina, with a bullet lodged in his head. After days of tense calm, the town became restive again on Tuesday following the nod from CM Captain Amarinder Singh to rename the traffic intersection as Samvidhan Chowk on a request from a few Dalit Congress leaders. People opposed to the move staged a protest vowing against the move to rename the chowk.
The Indian Express attempts to explain the controversy around the Gol Chowk.
Why is this chowk called Gol Chowk?
Located on Ludhiana-Jalandhar NH-1 in the middle of Phagwara town,it was once called “Paper Chowk” since newspapers were delivered at this chowk to the local newspaper agencies, hawkers and stall owners. Then in the 1990s, people started calling it Gol Chowk because of the big roundabout, the first in the town, that came up during the four-laning of NH-1.
One of the four roads from this chowk leads to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Nawanshahr district in which the martyr’s ancestral village of Khatkarkalan lies. In 1992, Vijay Sondhi, who was a Congress councillor for 28 years in Phagwara Municipal Committee (now a Corporation), presented a resolution before the committee demanding to name this chowk as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk. Sondhi and old councillors of the town say the resolution was unanimously approved by the then 21 councillors of committee but could not be implemented as the MC could not make a statue of Shaheed Bhagat Singh to install here. Even today, Google map shows this chowk as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk. After six-laning of NH-1, a flyover has been under-construction over this roundabout, but people continue to call it Gol Chowk.
What triggered the violent clash on April 13?
Ambedkar Sena Mool Niwasi (ASMN), a Dalit outfit, installed a board and hoarding on April 13 night to rename Gol Chowk as Samvidhan Chowk. Some pro-Hindu outfits, including the local Shiv Sena, Hindu Surksha Samit and Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, objected to it and their activists started gathering there after 11 pm on April 13 when ASMN activists were called by local officials to discuss the matter. The officials asked ASMN to remove the hoardings as there was no permission to rename the chowk. In the meantime, activists from both sides traded abusive language, which led to stone-pelting, throwing of bottles and finally firing allegedly by activists of pro-Hindu outfits in the presence of civil and police officials.
Why Ambedkar Sena Mool Niwasi wanted to rename the chowk.
ASMN was founded by Phagwara-based Harbhjan Suman, who belongs to Ravidassia community and is a follower of Dr Ambedkar. It came into being in 2003 ahead of infamous Talhan Gurudwara episode, in which Dalits and Sikhs clashed, prompting a curfew being imposed in Jalandhar for over a week.
Following the clashes at Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra in January this year between Dalits and Hindu right-wing outfits, a resolution to rename Gol Chowk as Samvidhan Chowk was moved on January 12 in Phagwara MC House by some councillors allied to ASMN, including Suman’s wife Purnima, a BSP councillor who belongs to Mahar caste to which Dr Ambedkar belonged.
However, the House kept the matter pending.
After the April 2 Bharat Bandh called by SC/ST organisations and the April 10 Bharat Bandh called by those opposed to the earlier bandh, members of ASMN and of rival groups had some minor clashes, following which the ASMN became quite active and took the decision to rename chowk.
Harbahjan Suman says there are around 5,000 members of ASMN across the state, mainly in four districts of Doaba region and Patiala district. Most followers are Buddhists.
Can this chowk be renamed as Samvidhan Chowk on CM’s approval?
Phagwara Corporation Mayor Arun Khosla has said that without a proper resolution in the MC, no public place can be renamed, even with CM’s approval. He said the House would soon meet and a resolution to name it as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk would be presented. In a public speech, Khosla also said they were trying to locate old records pertaining to its name as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk.
Corporation officials, however, cited another technical hurdle in the business of renaming. The Chowk lies on NH-1 and an NOC from National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) may also be required, they said. But NHAI authorities say if a flyover is constructed over a Chowk, such properties are handed over either to the municipal corporation of that area or the Public Works Department (PWD).
Why the face-off between Dalit and Hindu outfits?
Hindu outfits say while four of their leaders have been arrested after the April 13 clash, the police had failed to arrest Harbhajan Suman and Jarnail Nagal, a Lok Insaaf Party leader. They say Suman started the controversy of renaming the Chowk and Nagal supported him. They said that even after the clash, both had been giving inflammatory statements. In the past too, Harbhjan Suman had installed Dr Ambedkar’s photo at the bus stand along with some literature, which was objected to by Hindus, particularly the Brahmin community.
Police’s stand?
IG (Jalandhar Zone) Naunihal Singh has promised to act against Harbhajan Suman and Jarnail Nagalin three days.