E-Paper
Bhima Korgegaon commission: Narrative of events disputed by Dalit’s testimony
PUNE The Bhima Koregaon Inquiry Commission saw the light of day after several months in Pune, as a series of hearings were held between August 2 and August 5
PUNE The Bhima Koregaon Inquiry Commission saw the light of day after several months in Pune, as a series of hearings were held between August 2 and August 5.
The two-member commission includes Justice (retired) Jainarayan Patel and former chief secretary of Maharashtra, Sumit Mullick. Some of the claims made by a retired income tax officer from the family that claims to be a descendent of Dalit warrior Govind Gopal Mahar, created some loopholes in the narrative of events that occurred in the run-up to the violence in January 2018, and its immediate aftermath.
Pralhad Ishwar Gaikwad (63), the man who claims to be a descendant of Govind Gopal Mahar, has claimed that he is not aware of who affixed the board whose vandalism led to unrest in Vadhu Budrukh village in December 2017. The board credited Govind Gopal with performing the last rites on the mortal remains of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The contents of the board disputed an opposing belief of the Maratha community that it was their ancestors, and not Mahar, who had performed the last rites on Sambhaij Maharaj, after his body was desecrated by Mughal emperor Aurangazeb.
The Gaikwad family and the Maratha community got into a fight after the desecration of the board and the memorial. Rekha Shivale, the former sarpanch of Vadhu Budrukh has submitted a video of the fight that ensued between the Dalit Gaikwad family and members of the Maratha community.
Additionally, Gaikwad blamed the then deputy sarpanch of Vadhu Budrukh village, Santosh Shivale, for misleading him into signing an affidavit that claimed that the memorial was only two-three years old.
He claimed that he had been visiting the samadhi since his childhood, even though there is no record of its existence before the unrest happened in 2017.
During his cross questioning by Advocate MV Deshmukh on August 2, Gaikwad claimed that the memorial and his family house were washed away in the 1997 floods, and that it was reconstructed, without his permission, in 2015-2016, on a site that was different than its original location.
On August 3, during cross-questioning by Advocate BG Bansode, he said, “Govind Gopal Mahar was our ancestor. His samadhi is situated near the open plot, ie, in the buffer zone of CTS No 283. I am seeing the samadhi since my childhood. My father and grandfather used to tell us that in our family, Govind Gopal Mahar was a well-known warrior.”
This statement went directly against the claim that was made in his earlier affidavit in June 2018, and in a hand-written letter he had submitted to the gram panchayat in May 2018. A revised affidavit was submitted by him in October 2018, rectifying this claim.
Furthermore, Gaikwad added that he was not aware of who had reconstructed the memorial in 2015-16, or who had installed the board on the night intervening December 28-29, 2017. However, he does stake a claim on the sole ownership of the land on which the current memorial stands.
