Bhima Koregaon draws huge crowd

At Bhima Koregaon, near Pune, on January 1, Dalits arrive at the Koregaon Ranstambh (victory pillar) that commemorates the victory of the British Army over Peshwa Bajirao II in 1818.

On January 1, thousands of Dalits made their annual trip to Bhima Koregaon, about 30 kilometres from Pune, where exists a monument, an obelisk, with an inscription that records “one of the one of the proudest triumphs of the British Army in the East” against the army of Peshwa Bajirao II in the battle of Koregaon on January 1, 1818. A battalion of the Bombay Native Infantry, comprising 500 Mahar soldiers, was part of that British Army. Last year, Dalits commemorated 200 years of the battle that for them was, in the words of Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar, “a social liberation movement from caste prejudice”. It ended in violent clashes with Maratha youth opposed to the event that they believed undermined the Maratha legacy.

According to reports, the numbers this year were even larger than last year. “It was definitely a show of strength and solidarity towards what happened last year and the incidents post that. The injustice and lack of conviction in catching the real perpetrators has got people angry and not just from our community. Hundreds of supporters from across the country came this year. We saw the anger in the slogans and chants. It used to be a peaceful congregation, but last year’s attack changed that,” says Sudhin Raut (name changed), an activist from Pune.

“The attack on Bhima Koregaon will not be dismissed by the electorate. This incident is going to have a huge effect on the polls. The large numbers which gathered at the site this year are a clear indication of that,” says Jaidev Gaikwad, a local politician with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Close to 500 cases were registered and about 110 people were arrested in connection with the violence last year. A special team was also set up to investigate the incident. However, in a bizzare turn of events, in February, five activists from across the country were arrested for their alleged links to naxalites and alleged conspiracy in connection with the organisation of the Elgar Parishad , a gathering in Pune on December 31, 2017, that preceded the violence at Bhima Koregaon. A few months later another five activists/left-leaning intellectuals were first placed under house arrest and later arrested.

All 10 were booked under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which provides no scope for anticipatory bail.The first five to be arrested were: Surendra Gadling, a human rights lawyer from Nagpur; Sudhir Dhawale, Dalit rights leader and editor of Vidrohi; Rona Wilson, a New Delhi-based social activist; Shoma Sen, a professor of English in Nagpur University; and Mahesh Raut, a former recipient of the Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellowship. The next five were: P. Varavara Rao, poet and activist; Sudha Bharadwaj, lawyer; Arun Ferreira, human rights activist and lawyer; Vernon Gonsalves, social worker and writer; and Gautam Navlakha, journalist.

Latest information available on the cases against the 10 stated that nine of them were in Yerwada jail in Pune. Navlakha was under house arrest and the case against him had been dismissed. On January 10 the Supreme Court will hear the activists’ bail petition. “It is a very important hearing as this matter is not just about bail but about the constitutional issue of protecting liberty,” said Nihal Singh, the lawyer representing Mahesh Raut.

Nihal Singh said that in this case they did not file the charge within the 90-day period. An extension was granted but even that had expired. The detainees remained in prison without a charge sheet being filed, which was a violation of their constitutional rights. Unless there was a judicial order, they could not be kept in custody, he said.

The district court in Pune and the High Court in Mumbai are also hearing cases relating to the 10 persons. “The lower courts are dealing with issues such as the prison does not provide adequate blankets or is not permitting books into the cells of the activists. Nor are they allowed to take up courses,” said Sneha Mahesh, who is assisting Raut. “The bail hearing has come up five or six times but it is very difficult to get bail under the UAPA,” she said.

Sneha Mahesh claimed that the activists are languishing in jail trying hard to keep up their morale. Case hearings kept getting postponed, the media had lost interest, and few had the strength to pursue the fight and feared for their own existence. There had been very little movement in the past few months, she said and did not think that much headway would be made unless the Supreme Court took a bold step.

Meanwhile, Manohar Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, the two persons linked to the violence last year at Bhima Koregaon, remain free and continue to travel across the State spreading hatred against Dalits and minorities. Bhide has been given a “clean chit” by the Maharashtra Assembly. Ekbote was arrested but released within a few months.