Dalit anger disrupts life across the state

Angry Dalits staged rail and road blockades and took out processions in Mumbai and carried out agitations in different parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday to protest against violence in Pune a day ago which left one youth dead.

The Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, a Dalit party headed by Prakash Ambedkar the grandson of Bharat Ratna B.R. Ambedkar, called for a ‘peaceful Maharashtra shutdown’ on Wednesday to express anger over the Pune incidents. Protests and violent incidents were witnessed in other parts of the state, including Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Dhule, Beed, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Thane and Palghar as Dalits expressed their ire over Monday’s incidents in Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district.

At least 25 buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, besides private luxury buses and other vehicles, were damaged in stone pelting by riotous mobs.

The disturbances erupted in the village of KoregaonBhima on January 1 during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the AngloMaratha War between the army of Peshwa Bajirao II with a small force of the East India Company that comprised a large number of Dalits.

Several lakhs of Dalits had congregated around the Victory Pillar (Vijay Stambh) erected by the British in Sanaswadi village when suddenly stone pelting started, allegedly by some right-wing groups carrying saffron flags.

In the clashes that ensued between the two groups, more than 30 vehicles, including buses, police vans and private vehicles, were torched or damaged and one youth, Rahul Fatangale, 28 of Nanded lost his life.

The police fired tear gas to control the mobs and prohibitory orders were imposed in the entire Pune district, with the situation reported tense but calm on Tuesday. On Tuesday in most districts, protesters staged road blockades stopping traffic and enforced shutdown of shops and commercial establishments even as additional police forces were deployed.