Police are going all out to ensure there is no repeat of the violence that occurred on 1 January 2018, when clashes broke out between Dalits & Marathas.
Pune: Since the past two weeks, officers from the Pune rural police have held several meetings with people from villages around the Bhima-Koregaon victory pillar, locally known as the “vijaystambh”, urging them to greet all visitors on 1 January with flowers and a bottle of water.
On 1 January 2018, lakhs of Dalits making their way to the vijaystambh to mark 200 years of the 1818 Bhima-Koregaon battle met with violence. Stones were pelted and vehicles set ablaze as clashes broke out between Dalits and upper caste Marathas. According to legend, 500 soldiers from the Mahar community fought for the British East India Company and overthrew a much stronger contingent of the (Brahmin) Peshwas during the battle.
This year, the district administration, the police and villages around the vijaystambh are pulling all stops to ensure that the Bhima-Koregaon memorial day on 1 January 2019, is not only held without a glitch, but that visitors also get a warm welcome.
From arranging for surveillance drones and cameras to medical, water and parking facilities and vetting every shop along the way, the district administration and the Pune rural police are closely monitoring the preparations.
“Until now, the local gram panchayat and a few local groups used to be in charge of all planning for the annual January 1 event. This year, the collector’s office is overseeing everything. We don’t want anyone who comes to be inconvenienced,” a senior IPS officer from the Pune rural police said.
“We are planning for heavy police presence this year, taking help from the State Reserve Police Force and Home Guard. We have served notices to 14 habitual offenders for preventive custody so far. We have also been monitoring posts and handles on social media,” he said.
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At ground zero
It is a chilly December morning and Rupesh Thombare, sarpanch of Perne village in Pune district, has just come back from the vijaystambh, one of his innumerable visits there for the preparations for the memorial day.
He flips through a bunch of more than 50 letters, all related to the preparation for 1 January, on his desk, addressed to a variety of government entities — public works department, the collector, police, the state electricity distributor company, state transport undertaking, neighbouring gram panchayats and municipal corporations.
With the pillar falling under the jurisdiction of Perne village, Thombare now considers it his personal responsibility to ensure that on 1 January, Dalits can visit the pillar peacefully.
“There was no violence in Perne last year. In fact, our villages gave shelter to those who were trying to escape the riot. We want everyone to come to our village this year with their families and see our village’s beauty,” Thombare said.
There will be a swagatkaksh (welcome centre) close to the pillar. While the district administration was initially considering asking all shops and establishments along the route to the vijaystambh to remain shut on memorial day, the villages have decided to keep them open to keep the atmosphere lively, rather than one instilled with fear.
“But this time we are strictly ensuring that no shop or stall comes up without the prior approval of the government. We are also trying to prevent any hoardings in a 5-km radius of the vijaystambh,” Thombare said.
The sarpanch has also contacted the local administration of Dehu, which caters to a large number of pilgrims who take part in the annual Pandharpur wari, for logistical help.
The Perne gram panchayat is preparing to cater to a crowd of about 5-8 lakh people. There will be a total of 1,000 mobile toilets, five vehicular toilets, 15 general ambulances and five cardio-ambulances. Each parking lot will also have 20 toilets and a water tanker.
Moreover, no vehicles will be allowed within a 5-km radius of the vijaystambh and the gram panchayat has requested the state transport undertaking to supply buses to ferry visitors from the parking areas to the victory pillar.
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Village, marred by violence, wants peace
Last year’s violence earned the village a bad name, say Koregaon Bhima villagers.
While it is Perne village that prepares for the 1 January Dalit march to the vijaystambh, the neighbouring Koregaon Bhima village, which is a short distance from the vijaystambh, became a household name associated with the attacks on the Dalit visitors. The village also simmered in the violence.
Sangeeta Kamble, sarpanch of Koregaon Bhima, said, “Our village had no history of any Dalit-savarna clashes. I am myself a Dalit. I was a vegetable seller when the village entrusted me with the responsibility of being sarpanch. There was violence on January 1 here too, but our village has been very peaceful ever since.”
She added that this year, like always, the village is preparing to provide for tea, water and snacks to Dalits who make their way to the victory pillar. She said they have planned to put barricades in the village for people to come and go and installed surveillance cameras at the gram panchayat’s own cost.
Jeetendra Gavane, a member of the Koregaon Bhima gram panchayat, said, “Our village’s name got dragged into the controversy when we had absolutely nothing to do with it. Dalits and savarnas co-exist peacefully in our village. Of the 32 employees in our gram panchayat, 20-25 are Dalits.”
Gavane added that the gram panchayat has always been making basic arrangements for those who pass their village to make way to the vijaystambh. “This time, the sarpanch, deputy sarpanch and all panchayat members have decided to be there on the road to reassure people,” said Gavane, who belongs to the Maratha community.
Normally the people get carried away by some tantrums, provocations and Emotional Blackmailing of the Vested Interests that leads to misunderstanding. The moment the people learn to use their heads there won’t be any dispute between the communities. The Marathas also should realise that they are finally Shudras only and are never considered to be Kshatriyas by the Brahmins. They are only Savarnas means with Varna i.e. Shudra. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Fuley and now Nirmala Jadhav, a Maratha maid by the highly educated, highly placed and working with the scientifically advanced technology of Weather Forecasting IMD, Medha Khole.