Bhima Koregaon violence: 2 years on, Dalits await action against the guilty

Two years after the infamous Bhima-Koregaon violence, the Dalit community leaders are still uncertain whether the present Uddhav Thackeray government will act against

Two years after the infamous Bhima-Koregaon violence, the Dalit community leaders are still uncertain whether the present Uddhav Thackeray government will act against the alleged masterminds — Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote. However, they have welcomed government’s move to withdraw cases against the Dalits.

HT Image

As lakhs of Dalits gather at Bhima Koregaon to pay tributes to the Dalit soldiers for their valour displayed against the Peshwas in 1818, they still recall the January 1, 2018 incident where they were targeted. They rue that the duo — Bhide, who heads the Shiv Pratisthan and Milind Ekbote, who presides over Samasta Hindu Aghadi, whom they consider to have planned the attack, are still scot-free. Ekbote was arrested owing to the Supreme Court’s intervention, but currently, he is out on bail.

According to Anandraj Ambedkar, head of the Republican Sena, even the present government will not act against Bhide and Ekbote. “Apart from the BJP, the Shiv Sena and NCP have excellent relations with the duo. These parties take the help of the youths of the outfits led by Bhide and Ekbote, and hence they will not act against them,” alleged Ambedkar, who is also the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

However, Jogendra Kawade, who represents the People’s Republican Party, which is the constituent of the present state government, said the government will act against them. “We will petition the government and they will act against them. This is not BJP-led government but headed by Sena and they will not spare the guilty,” said Kawade.

Shailendra Kamble, the convener of Abolishing Caste System Committee, said that this move will prove the intention of the government. “It was the Dalits who were responsible for the ouster of the BJP-led government and if this government does not act, they will also face the music,” said Kamble.

Violence erupted when Dalit groups had gathered in large numbers at Bhima Koregaon to celebrate the bicentenary of the battle between the forces of British East India Company and the Peshwa’s army, which was eventually defeated.

The Dalit community commemorates the British victory as members of Mahar community, then considered untouchables, were part of the East India Company’s forces. The Peshwas were Brahmins who were infamous for their oppressive caste system, and the victory symbolised Dalit assertiveness.