bhima koregaon violence | SabrangIndia

Bhima Koregaon Violence: A Year Later Still No Justice – Nikhil Wagle

Fri, 28 Dec 2018 06:42:15 +0000

In this segment of ‘Nikhil Wagle Ka Satta Se Sawal’ Wagle gives a detailed narration of the Bhima Koregaon Violence which took place in January.

He talks about the Fadnavis government’s failure in delivering justice to those affected by the same and the pressure from the Central government and their involvement in protecting the accused by creating the alternate theory of a so called ‘maoist’ plot.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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Dalit Family Targetted by Upper-caste Mob in Bhima-Koregaon Violence Still Awaits Justice

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 07:03:28 +0000

First Published on June 12, 2018

While they have faced a bureaucratic runaround in trying to get the government officials to do their duty, they have been subjected to various kinds of pressure.

A Dalit family, which faced the wrath of the upper caste mob in the anti-Dalit violence that gripped areas around Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, has now spent five months awaiting action from a seemingly reluctant Maharashtra government. From May 31, they have been sitting in a protest outside the District Collectorate in Pune, having run out of all other forms of recourse.

Ashok and Rama Athavale were successful entrepreneurs and social organisers in their community in the Sanaswadi village. Ashok owned a welding and fabrication business, which employed eight local youth. Their three sons are in college – Sachin is in his second year of a BA, Satish is in his fourth year of Chemical Engineering in Mumbai, and Pritesh is studying Hotel Management. The couple together ran an organisation named Panchsheel Bauddheshi Trust, through which, they conducted a variety of activities, including organising women’s health camps, blood donation camps, and running a small free-of-cost library. This had raised hackles of a local RSS worker – who the couple identified as Midgule – and Ashok described to this reporter how he had often attempted to dissuade them from conducting such events.

It was as a part of their work through the Trust that Rama and Ashok used to set up a stall serving tea and pohato people passing through the village to visit Bhima Koregaon on January 1 every year. They did so this year as well, in defiance of a “resolution” by the Gram Panchayat that the day was to be observed as a “black day” and no businesses were to remain open.

Sanaswadi is located on the Pune-Ahmadnagar highway, a mere 7 kilometres away from Bhima Koregaon, and thus has large crowds passing through the village on the day when Dalit Bahujans from across Maharashtra arrive at Bhima Koregaon to celebrate and commemorate the victory of a Mahar army of 500 soldiers over the 28,000-strong Peshwa army, in 1818. The celebration was initiated by Babasaheb Ambedkar in 1927 as an assertion of Dalit pride and as a recognition of their success in overthrowing the Brahmin-controlled Peshwai, which is remembered as a regime which strictly enforced inhuman caste rules of untouchability.

This year marked the bicentennial of the battle and thus, a much larger crowd was anticipated than in previous years. In the lead-up to the event, on December 31, a group of Ambedkarite and left organisations had conducted a conference titled “Elgaar Parishaad” at the Shaniwarwada fort in Pune – which used to be the seat of the defeated Peshwa rulers. After the event, many individuals and groups were on their way to Bhima Koregaon.

This year had also seen a campaign against both the Elgaar Parishaad and the celebration and commemoration of the battle itself orchestrated by Brahmin and right-wing elements. Statements issued by Hindutva ideologues Milind Ekbote and Manohar Bhide (who Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed as his ‘guru’ in the past) as well as several other outfits such as the Akhil Bharatiya Brahman Mahasangh objected to the speakers who were to participate at the conference and opposed the celebration as a whole.

While these exhortations were made through the media, evidently the message was passed down through the ranks to RSS workers on the ground as well, and accordingly the Sanaswadi gram panchayat announced on December 31 that it had resolved that the following day was to be marked as a “black day”. Locals were instructed that no business should be running in the village. They were forbidden from even serving water to the visitors who would be passing through.

Rama says, “We hadn’t anticipated that there would be such big riots. So, we set up our stall serving pohaand tea as we have done every year. Between 6 am and 11:30 am, we served 2 quintals of poha and 20-30 litres of tea.” Meanwhile, a large crowd had gathered at the village centre, and had blocked the road. Vehicles with the blue Ambedkarite flag were being attacked with stones; the mob was trying to ensure that no one passed through to reach Bhima Koregaon.” Rama recounts hearing members of the mob saying: “You are celebrating the fall of the Marathas – the Hindus – as a day of victory. For us, it is a black day, and we will not allow you to go to the venue.”

At around noon, the hostility of the riotous mob began to turn towards the Athavale family. On his way to the Sansawadi market, Ashok saw Midgule, who – aside from being the local RSS shakha pramukh –is also a journalist writing for Dainik Prabhat and Saamna, at a temple along with two priests. He came to know that a rumour had been spread that the couple had thrown liquor bottles and mutton into the temple.Then came a phone call from a gram panchayat member warning them to shut down their stall or else to be prepared to face the anger of the mob. Within minutes, the entire crowd, estimated to be around 1,000-strong according to Ashok, had gathered outside their home. The family fled through the back door, hiding in a shed some distance away from their home, and watched as the mob first ransacked their home and the premises of their business and trust, and then burnt it down.

At around 3 pm, they received another call, warning them that plans to kill the family were afoot. The caller advised them to leave Sanaswadi immediately. Their immediate destination was the home of a relative who lives a kilometre away. Rama managed to make it to their home along with two of her sons. Ashok, however, was caught by the mob. He was beaten first till he was near unconscious, and then doused with petrol. However, before the final act of depravity, the mob was apparently dissuaded by a phone call that someone received. He was not killed, and managed to reunite with his wife and family after regaining consciousness a couple of hours later. By 1 am, all the members of the family were together, and they made their way to Pune, never to return. All told, according to a panchnama prepared by the tehsildaar, they had suffered losses amounting to Rs. 60 lakh.

In the subsequent months, the family has been moving from place to place in Pune, all the while seeking action from the police. In the FIR they, they have named and identified several culprits who, according to them, were involved in the atrocity. The FIR includes sections of the IPC, as well as of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, under which stringent action would have been required of the police and government, including immediate arrests of the accused and rehabilitation and compensation by the government.
The act specifies that in case of homes being burned down, it is the government’s duty to provide a new home within a month’s time at the government’s expense. The act also specifies that the government must compensate for financial losses, as well as offer additional compensation amounts based on the number of different crimes that were committed against them in the course of the mob’s actions. There has been no action on these fronts.

At the time when the FIR was filed, the act also specified that those named in an FIR under the act were to be arrested concurrent to a police investigation (this requirement was later dropped by the Supreme Court in a controversial judgement). A chargesheet is supposed to be filed within 60 days. However, those named by the family remain at large. After five months of administrative and police inaction, the family has now chosen to sit in protest outside the district collectorate, vowing that they will not move from the spot until their demands of action against the perpetrators, and appropriate rehabilitation and compensation are met.

While they have faced a bureaucratic runaround in trying to get the government officials to do their duty, they have been subjected to various kinds of pressure. They have had various individuals – including a police officer of the SP rank – trying to persuade them to “compromise” and drop the cases that they have filed. Meanwhile, Ashok says he has been told by Midgule, the RSS worker: “You go anywhere – go to the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister.It is our government, our people are in the office, and no one can do us any harm.”

In their agitation at the district collectorate, they have received some support from organisations focussed on Dalit Bahujan issues, including Association for Assisting Victims to Achieve Justice, a Mumbai-based NGO, and Pune representatives of the Maharashtra Kranti Sena and Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh. By and large, however, their plight has gone unnoticed by the major political parties and the media. This is in contrast to the case of the killing of Rahul Phatangade by a mob, which also took place in Sanaswadi. That case received significant media attention, and the victim’s family were granted Rs. 10 lakh as compensation by an under-pressure Devendra Fadnavis government, which also launched a CID probe into his death. Four suspects have already been arrested. Athavales’ demand is for similar police and administrative attention.

At an initial meeting on May 31, they were assured by the district collector that their rehabilitation and compensation procedures would be completed within 10 days. A subsequent meeting on June 8 however turned out to be fruitless. At the time of writing this story, the couple had been sitting outside the collectorate for 10 days braving both scorching heat as well as rain. Such is the fate of Dalit businessmen in Modi’s India.

Photographs by Sanghash Apte and the Author.
The author is a Mumbai-based independent journalist. Translation from Marathi by Ketan Kamble.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

The post Dalit Family Targetted by Upper-caste Mob in Bhima-Koregaon Violence Still Awaits Justice appeared first on SabrangIndia.

What really happened in Bhima Koregaon

Sat, 13 Jan 2018 11:56:17 +0000

Fact finding report by Rashtra Seva Dal unearths a Saffron conspiracy

On January 1, 2018, thousands of Dalit families that had gathered at Bhima Koregaon to pay homage to the Dalit Mahar martyrs of the Anglo-Maratha war of 1818, were targeted and attacked by members of extreme right wing Hindutva groups. The saffron goons not only pelted the Dalit gathering, where there were thousands of women and children, with large stones, but also set their cars and buses on fire. Neighbouring villages meanwhile engaged in a social boycott and shut down their shops, thereby denying the gathered Dalits the opportunity to even purchase bottled water. Following are the findings of a fact finding investigation by members of the Rashtra Seva Dal, a social welfare organization working in the field of Dalit rights.

Located at the eastern side of Pune and situated on the banks of River Bhima, Koregaon-Bhima can be traced along Pune –Ahmadnagar highway and approximately 25 km from the Pune City whose population is around 7000-8000.

January 1, 2018, was the occasion of celebrating the completion of 200 years of Bhima Koregaon battle. It is considered to be a valor day for Mahar regiment and was initiated by Dr B.R. Ambedkar nearly 90 years ago in 1927. From 1927 to 2018 the number of people belonging to and consisting of depressed classes from all over Maharashtra increased magnificently from a few thousands to nearly around 1.5 million this year. Prior to this year’s conglomeration a substantial number of conferences were held all over Maharashtra in which hundreds of anti-caste groups under the banner of Elgaar had participated including that of Rashtra Seva Dal also.These conferences facilitated the record turnout at Bhima-Koregaon this year. The state administration was well –informed about all these developments.

In the year 1990-91, on the special occasion of the death anniversary of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and the birth centenary of Dr B.R.Ambedkar, a decision was taken to celebrate certain historical events like the establishment of the first women’s school at Bhidewada, Pune and the locations having historical significance like the birthplace of Savitribai Phule at Naygaon, Pune. Along with that, it was also decided to commemorate the things which have hitherto remained marginalized like the installation of the first statue of Gautam Buddha by Dr.B.R. Ambedkar on Dehu road near Pune. Celebration of the victory memorial of the Bhima-Koregaon battle as it was initiated by Dr.B.R Ambedkar on January 1, 1927, was also a part and parcel of this broader objective.

The Bhima-Koregaon war was fought between the British forces on the one hand and the Peshwas forces on the other. In that Peshwas had near about 20,000 soldiers while the British regiment known as Bombay Native Infantry, 2^nd battalion consisted of merely around 1000 soldiers. However, latter were armed with better quality of arms and ammunition. This particular regiment consisted mainly of Mahar community soldiers. Ultimately, the battle won by the British resulted in the downfall of Peshwa regime. It was during this regime that atrocities related to the caste system were at its peak and the then untouchables along with women were at its receiving end. They were the most severe victims of caste-oppression and humiliation. The then untouchables were required to carry a pot hung from their chest to belly so that whenever they spit the matter should not fall on ground as it is considered to be impure. Further, a broom was also used to be tied at the back of their waist so that while walking on the ground the impure traces of their footprints should automatically be get cleaned & cleared. This humiliation was the most prominent reason behind the Mahar community’s participation in the brave fight from the British side. That’s the reason behind Dr. Ambedkar’s commemoration of the event as a victory day.

Another version of this episode was that the end of Peshwa regime did not automatically resulted in putting a full stop to the caste oppression. Instead, in the aftermath of 1857 Sepoy Mutiny (which is also being upheld as the First War of Independence within the ranks of nationalist historiography), the British regime assured both the Brahmins and the Muslims that they will not interfere in the religious affairs of the indigenous communities. They discontinued with the recruitment of separate Mahar regiment in accordance with this assurance. Thus, as per the proponents of this version of history, the British strategy should be looked upon with a suspicion and thereby we should refrain ourselves from celebrating this battle as a Victory Day which according to them amounts to being an anti-national. The descendents of the Peshwas along with Hindutva forces hold on to this view and had also approached the court to demand a ban on the celebration of this day as a Victory Day. However, their petition was rejected by the court. Interestingly, the War Memorial has been standing at that place for the last 200 years with the Martyr’s names inscribed on it. It consist not only the names of the soldiers from the Mahar Community but also a few Maratha and Other Backward Caste soldier’s names are visible alongside.

A few kilometers away from this memorial, a mausoleum of Chhatrapati Sambhaji is also situated at a village called Wadoo (Budruk). Renowned historian V.C Bendre had discovered this mausoleum in the year 1939 which can be located in the Dalit locality of the village. Sambhaji, the then scholar of Sanskrit language became an eyesore to the Brahmins as gaining the knowledge of Sanskrit was prohibited for the non-Brahmins on the basis of Manusmriti dictums. These Brahmins advised Aurangzeb to punish Sambhaji in accordance with the Manusmriti code which included the brutalities like to take out his eyes for the crime of reading Sanskrit Vedas, to cut off his head for memorizing them along with his body to be thrown out into pieces. A fatwa was issued prohibiting the cremation of his body parts. However, there was one Govind Mahar who took up the responsibility of late Sambhaji’s last rites and duly cremated his body after sewing up those parts and pieces. Renowned historians apart from V.C.Bendre like Kamal Gokhle and Shrad Patil had also corroborated this version.

However there is another version coming from Hindutwavaadi forces is that the body parts were not sewed by a Mahar but was done by a Maratha. Hence the Marathas of the village are claiming that it is the ancestor of a Maratha Family named Sevale who had performed the last rites of Sambhaji. The Hindutwavaadi forces are giving this twist to the story of punishment to Sambhaji for the last 25 years in western Maharashtra which has added fuel to fire in the riots on January 1.

On December 28, 2017, existing family members of the Govind Mahar had fixed a board indicating direction towards his Sambhaji’s mausoleum. However, certain miscreants from the same village removed the hoarding. They also removed and threw away the shed over the mausoleum of Govind Mahar. Latter’s family members lodged a police complaint and accordingly 49 people were arrested from the village. On January 1, 2018, a rumor spread like a wildfire that some suspicious activity is taking place at Sambhaji Maharaj’s mausoleum. An organization called Hindu Aaghadi has been active for quite some time in this area. They have been holding public meetings for the last three weeks and were issuing warnings to the people in the gathering that those who would assemble on January 1, would be considered as anti-national. One amongst them held a press conference on December 28, 2017 at Pune and publicly said that probably India is the only country in the entire world where some anti-national elements can celebrate the victory of a foreign power over nationalist forces (i.e. Peshwas) and the incumbent government instead of interrogating them provides all facilities to hold such public gatherings.

On December 29, 30 and 31, 2017, law and order was presided over Bhima –Koregaon, Wadoo (Budruk) along with Sanaswadi. However, some strangers were found loitering around these villages. The Bhima-Koregaon village council had passed a resolution to observe a shutdown on January 1, 2018 and had also submitted a copy of the resolution to the nearest Police Station at Shikrapur. But the Police ignored it and grossly underestimated the situation.

On January 1, 2018 people from all over Maharashtra were approaching to gather at Bhima-Koregaon. On the other hand, thousands of people with saffron flags had assembled at Wadoo (Budruk) around 10a.m.The open space around Bhima-Koregaon was filled with the vehicles parked by those who came to celebrate the memorial and Victory Day. After parking their vehicles, people came walking for 3-4 kilometers towards the memorial which included women, children and elderly. Around 11 a.m., an attack was launched upon them by the bearers of the saffron flag. Hundreds of vehicles were burnt down. The riots escalated further towards the Sanaswadi and Chakan-Shikrapur road. The attackers were duly equipped with stones and other sharp-edged weapons. Ashop belonging to one Salim Inamdar was set ablaze. Petrol was freely used to burn the vehicles. A warehouse belonging to one Salim Khan was set on fire. A tyre-shop belonging to one Asgar Ali Ansari was burnt. His younger brother who had taken shelter inside the shop fled when the shop was put on fire. A cylinder in the adjacent hotel got burst which burnt the shop Sarvesh Autolines belonging to one Bhausaheb Khetre. The two trucks (truck no. MH-12-786 and MH-12- 2757) in front of one Razzak Bhai’s garage were put on fire. A shop belonging to one Shivraj Prajapati displaying the nameplate- ‘Ranabhai Marble’ was looted. A warehouse of firewood belonging to one Haribhau Darekar was burnt.

One Dalit by the name of Sudam Shankar Pawar, a project affected person who had been rehabilitated in the Sanaswadi and who had received two acres of land out of which 1 and ½ acres is used for Sugar Cane cultivation while in the rest of his land a Buddha Vihar has been built along with a meeting hall and an open space. He has also built 29 one room row houses (Chawl). On January 1, 2018, around 6pm a crowd marching from the side of a steel factory entered his field and broke the vehicles parked in his open space and put on fire his sugar-cane field from all the sides and also broke the glass –panes of the Buddha VIHAR. Interestingly, the houses and the fields belonging to Darekar and Hargude remained intact which were just in front of his home. Thus, it becomes apparent that the rioters had targeted only Sudam Pawar’s house and field because he is a Dalit. Similarly, the attackers also pelted stones towards the houses of Ravi Kamble and Athwale. The studio of a famous painter and sculptor, Elvin Fernandes was also burnt. The property of Mr. Mutha Jain was put on fire. On the Pune-Ahmed Nagar road, the fire brigade vehicle was also put on fire. In total 5000 vehicles were destroyed. 50 cars and luxury buses were burnt.
Following questions can be raised with regard to the whole incident:-

Who took the decision for the shutdown on January 1, 2018? How come a village which claims to provide hospitality to the outsiders every year gave a call for shutdown on very day this year? As a result of which the visitors did not even get a glass of water to drink.
We noticed a tremendous fear among the common people in the Bhima –Koregaon who requested us repeatedly not to write their names in our report. Due to this same fear, the existing family members of the Govind Mahar of Wadoo-Budruk who had filed a case earlier have retracted now. All 49 people who were arrested in the case of destruction of Govind Mahar’s mausoleum have now been freed. What is the cause of this fear psyche?
The Hindutva forces which are clearly involved in this entire episode are roaming freely around, giving interviews and putting up distorted video clippings on social media relegating the entire blame at the doors of Dalits for whatever happened. What is the state administration doing?
This whole episode clearly indicates an attempt directed to divide the Dalits and the Marathas along caste lines thereby disrupting the social fabric of Maharashtra. Why the law and order agencies are not paying any attention to the polarization effect taking place due to this incident?

Our demands are as follows:-

Arrest immediately the main culprits involved in the riots of Bhima-Koregaon.
A judicial inquiry must be immediately instituted and it should duly publish its report.
The role of the police and the administration should be investigated and the guilty persons should be punished accordingly.
The role of the media in this entire episode should be scrutinized.

Team members of Rashtra Seva Dal who conducted this fact finding are:-

Dr. Suresh Khairnar (President)
Allauddin Sheikh
Vinay Sawant
Feroz Mithiborewala
Puja Badekar
Shivraj Suryavanshi in association with
Bharat Patankar and
Kishor Dhamale

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