The Amravati police on Thursday granted permission to Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’, the chief of the Uttar Pradesh-based Bhim Army, to hold a public meeting in Pune on January 4.
The event, to be held in Science Core grounds, will be the Bhim Army’s chief’s first public address in Maharashtra following cancellations of his public addresses in Mumbai, Pune and Latur.
Mr. Azad's previous engagements were quashed owing to heightened security before the 201st anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune district.
Confirming the development, Sanjaykumar Baviskar, Amravati Police Commissioner told The Hindu that while the police had acceded to the Bhim Army’s request of letting Mr. Azad address a public meeting, no permission was given to any rally to be staged on part of the outfit.
“We have given sanction only for the public address and not for any rally on part of Bhim Army members in Amravati city. And naturally, we shall be monitoring his [Mr. Azad’s] speech to ensure that no socially divisive or provocative statements are uttered during the address,” said Commissioner Baviskar.
The event is slated to be held after 1 p.m. on Friday.
Since Mr. Azad’s entry in Maharashtra on December 28, the state administration and security apparatus have been ill-disposed to the fiery Ambedkarite leader’s public engagements given the fraught atmosphere prevailing in Pune in the run-up to the 201st anniversary of the battle of Bhima- Koregaon.
Anxious to preclude any law and order incident that may arise due to Mr. Azad’s addresses, Maharashtra Home department and the police had cancelled his meetings in Mumbai on December 28, in Pune on December 30 and in Latur on January 2.
Mr. Azad was detained in his Mumbai hotel while hundreds of Bhim Army members were taken into preventive custody by the Mumbai police last week.
On December 31, the Bombay High Court had denied permission to Mr. Azad’s slated address on the ‘Bhima-Koregaon Sangharsh Mahasabha’ at the Pune’s SSPMS grounds.
However, Mr. Azad did visit the obelisk commemorating the Bhima-Koregaon battle at Perne on January 1 on occasion of the traditional anniversary celebrations of the battle.
Likewise, denied permission to make a speech in Latur city, Mr. Azad merely paid homage to the statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and departed the spot of his proposed public meeting.