Team Azhimukham
Has the Pune police succeeded in preventing an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Or is it staging a farcical, and repeatedly seen, game of clubbing together a group of people fighting for the rights of marginalized people and try to paint them as terrorists?
The final answer may take some time to emerge. But the available indications raise many questions about the way the Pune police has gone about dealing with the Bhima Koregaon violence, five months after it spread across Maharashtra resulting in one death and in which two leading Hindutva leaders were initially accused.
Referring to the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar quoted from a letter found at Rona Wilson’s home: “We are thinking along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi incident. It sounds suicidal and there is a chance that we might fail but the party must deliberate on our proposal.” Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Kadam told reporters that a letter allegedly seized from Wilson’s house had been sent by fugitive Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde.
A close look at the Maharashtra police actions raises very serious questions.
In the first phase of their investigation after the violence, it was Hindutva leaders who were the focus of the probe. However, in the last one month, the police has taken a u-turn, and has now rounded up five social activists working with Dalits, Adivasis and political prisoners. This includes Malayalee activist Rona Wilson.
They have been accused of having Maoist links and have been charged under sections of the controversial Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. They were produced before a Pune court on Thursday and have been placed in police custody at Vishrambaug Police Station till June 14.
Police officials now claim that the Bhima Koregaon violence on January 1 was incited by the speeches of Dalit rights activists at an “Elgar Parishad” event held in Pune a day before, and that this event was funded by banned Maoist outfits.
On January 1, clashes broke out in and around Bhima Koregaon. Dalits claimed they had been attacked by people with saffron flags, while Marathas claimed they had been attacked by Dalits. As Dalit protests spread across the state, one person was killed in the violence.
Several Dalits claimed that the violence had been incited by Hindutva leaders who made provocative, anti-Dalit speeches a few days before the event. On January 3, the Pune police filed cases against Milind Ekbote, head of the Hindu Ekta Manch, and Sambhaji Bhide, chief of the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan for allegedly instigating the violence on Dalits. However, while Ekbote was released on bail soon after being arrested in March, Bhide has not yet been arrested, despite a Supreme Court order demanding his arrest.
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