‘Any violence would undo our efforts’
NEWDELHI: Coming out in solidarity with the Bharat Bandh to protest the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, hundreds of people took to the streets in the Capital on Monday. Though the protesters stalled traffic at several junctions, particularly in central Delhi, the demonstrations ended without any violence.
People at the forefront of the demonstrations in Delhi said they made conscious efforts to ensure the protests did not turn violent.
“We had been preparing for the bandh on social media for several days. All through, we kept reminding the participants that any violence would undo our efforts,” said BS Bharti, an orga- niser at the central Delhi protest.
The largest protest in Delhi was a march from Mandi House to Parliament Street where leaders addressed the gathering from a stage. Smaller demonstrations were held in places like west Delhi’s Vikaspuri and Delhi Cantonment and south Delhi’s RK Puram.
The central Delhi protests were held under the banner of Ambedkarites, SC/ST and Buddhist Communities.
The organisers said the protesters from several smaller groups independently joined them. Between 1,500 and 3,000 people gathered for the Bharat Bandh protests in central Delhi.
According to BS Bharti, general secretary of All India CPWD SC/ST Association (one of the many groups), the protesters included bank and insurance company employees, railway workers and defence personnel as well as other Delhiites, who decided to join the protests.
A large number of young men not associated with any of these groups too were a part of the gathering that assembled at Mandi House roundabout at 11 am and dispersed from Parliament Street at 3 pm.
“I keep reading about Dalit grooms not being allowed to ride horses and upper-caste people not eating with lower castes. I, too, have faced situations in which my friends’ behaviour towards me changed after knowing my caste. This protest allows us to vent our daily frustration and ensure the government does not encourage atrocities against us,” said Rajeev Singh, an unem- ployed protester
Delhi’s Trilokpuri.
Singh and his friends had arrived for the protests on motorcycles. Fearing that any dilution in the SC/ST Atrocities Act would leave them exposed to harassment, they sat on the road first on Connaught Place’s outer circle before blocking Tolstoy Marg for a few minutes.
The organisers had been rallying support for the Delhi edition of the Bharat Bandh through active presence on social media sites.
“The Supreme Court is passing orders against Dalits at the behest of the Central government. If the court order against us is not revoked after a review, we will return to the streets in larger numbers on April 9,” said BS Bharti. from east