Dalit unrest in Maharashtra :Police file case against Jignesh Mevani, Umar Khalid, deny permission for summit
Mumbai, Jan 4 (IBNS) : A day after the state-wide bandh call by Dalit groups disrupted life in parts of Maharashtra, police filed a case against Jignesh Mevani and Umar Khalid allegedly for making speeches inciting caste tension, media reports said.
Police also denied permission for the All India National Students’ Summit where newly elected Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and JNU student leader Umar Khalid were invited as guests.
The case against them have been filed by the Pune police under charges of ‘creating communal disharmony’ through the ‘provocative speeches’ they delivered at Elgaar Parishad.
The Elgaar Parishad was held in Pune to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon.
In Mumbai, Mevani and Khalid were scheduled to take part in the meeting, which was to be held at the Bhaidas Hall in Vile Parle.
Violence erupted in Maharashtra on January 1 when Dalit groups were celebrating the bicentenary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in which the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Peshwa’s army.
Vehicles were torched, traffic was disrupted and train services were halted in parts across the state due to the bandh called by the Dalits on Wednesday.
Following massive protests and violence by alleged supporters of Dalit groups, 16 cases were filed by the police and more than 300 people were detained.
Two persons died in the clashes, one of them a 16-year-old.
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