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Pune gears up to commemorate battle of Bhima Koregaon
Last year the event was marred with violence between Dalits and right-wing organisations leading to the death of a youth
Ahead of the 201st anniversary celebrations on January 1, to commemorate the battle of Bhima Koregaon members of different Dalit outfits under the aegis of Bhima Koregaon Vijay Stambh Shaurya Din Samanway Samiti have asked the district administration and state government to make the stay, seating and sanitary arrangements for people visiting the obelisk during the event. The organisations claimed that people across the country will be visiting Bhima Koregaon during the event and it would one of the biggest gathering on lines of Mahaparivnirvan Din in Mumbai.
Last year the event was marred with violence between Dalits and right-wing organisations leading to the death of a youth. The committee has also requested the district administration to take adequate steps to provide good amenities to the Dalit Community members for their three-day stay starting from December 30 till January 1. The co-ordination committee members who addressed a media interaction on Friday said that the administration should give permission for setting up pandals for conducting the sabhas in accordance with the tradition which has been followed since decades.
Bhartiya Republican Yuva Morcha President and co-ordinator Rahul Dambale, said, “The district administration needs to take effective steps in providing good sitting arrangements for devout visiting the memorial for the 201st-anniversary celebrations.” “So far no arrangements have been made with regards to pandals and we want the district administration to plan the event properly. The process of setting up pandals at the spot usually starts months in advance but that has not happened this year,” he said.
Dambale demanded that the district administration and police take preventive action against 1,500 persons accused of rioting during last years caste violence and ensure that adequate security is provided to all those visiting the obelisk to offer their tributes. Among the others present during the press interaction included Milind Ahire of Bahujan Republican Socialist Party and Prakash Bhalerao of People’s Republican Party.
The Dalit community members commemorate the battle of Bhima Koregaon anniversary as Valour Day and gather in large numbers at the victory tower popularly known as Vijay Stambh which was erected by the then Britishers at Perne Phata at Bhima on Pune-Ahmednagar highway about 30km from the city to mark the victory of the British over the Peshwa army with the help of Mahar soldiers.
The upcoming event is the first public gathering at Koregaon Bhima after the violent clashes erupted during the 200th-anniversary event on January 1, 2018. Bhima Army Supremo Chandrashekhar Azad will be visiting Bhima Koregaon this year to pay respects at the victory tower.
HC rejects activist’s plea seeking quashing of FIR
The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde seeking the quashing of an FIR lodged against him by the Pune Police for his alleged role in the Elgar Parishad-Koregaon Bhima violence and for his alleged Maoist links. In his plea, Teltumbde denied all the charges against him even as the police opposed the same and claimed that they have ample evidence which implicated the activist in the case. A division bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and S V Kotwal dismissed the petition. However, the court granted Teltumbde interim protection from arrest for a period of three weeks, during which he can approach the Supreme Court.Earlier, Teltumbde’s lawyer, senior advocate Mihir Desai, had told the bench that on December 30 and 31 last year, his client was in Goa and not in Pune, or anywhere close to the site of the violence near Koregaon-Bhima.
