Bharat Bandh: Mixed response in Uttar Pradesh
LUCKNOW The Bharat Bandh called by upper caste groups to protest against amendments made to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Parliament to overturn a Supreme Court judgment evoked a mixed response in UP with sporadic incidents of violence at a few places even as the state remained largely peaceful.
Protesters stopped trains in Agra, Banda, Mainpuri and Panki in Kanpur and blocked roads in some parts of the state. Some people resorted to brickbatting in Ballia in which six cops were injured, superintendent of police (Ballia) said.
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LUCKNOW: The Bharat Bandh called by upper caste groups to protest against amendments made to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Parliament to overturn a Supreme Court judgment evoked a mixed response in U P with sporadic incidents of violence at a few places even as the state remained largely peaceful.
Protesters stopped trains in Agra, Banda, Mainpuri, Allahabad and Panki in Kanpur and blocked roads in some parts of the state. Some people resorted to brick-batting in Ballia in which nine people, including six policemen, were injured in two incidents, SP (Ballia) Sriparna Ganguly said.
“Six policemen were injured when protesters blocked a road in Chilkahar area and indulged in stone-pelting. In another incident in Bibi Tola area of Barria, three people were injured in a clash,” she added.
In Kanpur’s Chaubeypur area, pro-reservation and anti-reservation groups indulged in a clash. Later, anti-reservation groups staged a road blockade on GT Road. Members of Sawarn Swabhiman Samiti and Vypar Mandal took out a procession which started from Ghantaghar to Collectorganj where the activists demonstrated for about an hour.
When the police did not take any action against them, they entered the police station and observed a sit-in. Later, the circle officer accepted their memorandum.
In Lucknow, the bandh call failed to evoke considerable response as major markets, business establishments, petrol pumps and schools remained open throughout the day.
According to senior police officials, force was deployed at all strategic locations and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the city.
Railway officials said train traffic from Lucknow also remained unaffected by the bandh. In Agra, majority of shops and schools remained closed. Train traffic remained affected in rural belt of the district while tension prevailed in Shamshabad town after a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar was found damaged on Thursday morning.
As dalits gathering on the spot to register their protest, police reached the spot and assured them that a new statue would be installed.
In Kheragarh town of Agra, police had to use mild force to prevent the protesters from damaging a roadways bus. Pro- and anti-
reservation groups came face to face in Pihanat town and pelted each other with stones. Residents of Bhadroli village in Bah tehsil stopped Etawah passenger train.
The agitators took out a mock funeral procession of BJP MP Satish Gautam in Aligarh and burnt it despite police intervention. In Meerut, activists of Karni Sena protested against the BJP government. Police foiled an attempt to torch the effigy of the
PM by a group in Hapur. In Varanasi, agitators set ablaze kiosks and disrupted traffic movement near the BHU. In Allahabad, some shopping malls and showrooms remained closed in Civil Lines and Katra areas. The bandh call evoked a mixed response in Gorakhpur.