Bhima Koregaon Violence and the Social Concerns that it has

Reflected in India

Darshana Bhattacharya

A90357416001

Semester V

B.A. (Hons) Political Science:2016-19

Amity University Kolkata

 Acknowledgements
I am grateful to my institution for giving this opportunity of taking up a case study of interest
and enhancing my depth of knowledge and understanding of my surroundings and for
providing good reference sources to go through. I am also thankful to my close ones for
having supported me in this work.
Contents

Introduction

Historical Background

Details of 1st January2018: Events at Bhima Koregaon

An Intense set of Investigations into the Case for its possible Causes &
Evolution

Maoist Allegations & Arrest of Activists : Heightening Dynamics of Bhima

Koregaon

Examination of the five Activists under House Arrest

Latest Developments

Conclusion

References
Introduction
‘Gandhiji...I have no homeland. How can I call this land my own homeland and this religion my own,
wherein we are treated worse than cats and dogs, wherein we cannot get water to drink?’

‘Whenever there is any conflict of interest between the the country and the untouchables, so far I
am concerned, the untouchables’ interests will take precedence over the interests of the country. As
between the country and myself, the country will have precedence; as between the country and the
Depressed classes, the Depressed classes will have precedence.’

Both of the above quotations had been voiced by Dr. Bhim Rao Bbasaheb Ambedkar (B.R.
Ambedkar) during the Indian nationalist movement. One of the most crucial problems of India has
been illustrated in not only relative and absolute poverty but also in the historically promoted and
practiced evil darkness of communalism and casteism . The emergence of the Dalits in India has
been a tragic result of such socio-economic , historically and mythologically, often religiously
instigated phenomena. They have been of socio-economically outcast or the most lowly treated
groups in India most usually coming under the category of the Sudra and similar lowly seen castes
and have learnt to expect a tough life of fights for survival and dignity over years and generations.
Our leaders like Dr. BR Ambedkar, Jyoti Rao Phule, Sri Kansi Ram of the nationalist times have been
replaced today by the new generation of fighters for the socio-economically oppressed and
discriminated classes like Prakash Ambedkar, young Dalit member of the Gujrat legislative assembly
(MLA) Jignesh Mevani, adivasi activist Soni Sori and the like to fit the changed times of the 21st
century Indian socio-politico-economic set up.

The Bhima Koregaon violence case (January ist, 2018)has acquired center stage in today’s social
discussions and debates in the media, political and academic circles due to its vehemently communal
nature, due to the dramatic showdown by the Hindu fundamentalist groups of India at the 200th
anniversary of the historic celebrations of the Dalit victory against the casteist Peshwa Bajirao II’s
army ( January 1st, 1800: village of Bhima Koregaon at Maharashtra). The intensity of the conflicts
have reached the climax with the central government’s getting five India wide acclaimed activists
and intellectuals arrested by the Pune police for having allegedly promoted and supported Maoists
in the disguise of help to dalits. As a case study, the historical background, the 1st January 2018
events and the developing dynamics of the Bhima Koregaon violence case would be examined in this
paper.

Historical Background
The date and year: 1st January 1818 present day village of Bhima Koregaon (Maharashtra) witnessed
a different fight for independence, which eventually over the years acquired a controversial
character for certain sections of Indians: the fight for independence and self realisation of the dalit
Mahar soldiers against the Peshwa army led by Bajirao II, under the garb of a fight between the
British and Indians. It was fought between, over 20,000 forces of the Peshwa faction of Maratha
Confederacy and 800 strong force of the British East India Company. The tension had erupted from
1817 over revenue disputes between the British, Peshwas and the Gaekwads. So initially the fight
would have appeared to be of a simple character driven by politico-economic gains. Then with the
brewing nationalist sentiments it acquired other more noble connotations and many saw the victory
of the British as an instance of imperialist victory. What made a turning point was the presence of
the dalit Mahar soldiers in large numbers, making up the native infantry in the British army who due
to their discrimination and neglect from Indian Kings from the post Shivaji period onwards, had
seized the opportunity of the fight in the hope of getting socio-politico-economic independence
from the Hindu and caste based rule which they considered to have been the face of real British
India. From among the 49 native Company soldiers’ names inscribed on Koregaon victory obelisk, 22
have the suffix of ‘nac’/ ‘nak’ indicating to the Mahar caste. The obelisk was featured on Mahar
regiment’s crest until Indian Independce. In 1927, Dr. Ambedkar inaugurated what would become an
annual commemoration for Mahar soldiers and other suppressed classes.

Details of 1st January 2018: Events at Bhima Koregaon

Every New Year’s Day, lakhs of Dalits visit a memorial pillar at Koregaon Bhima
village, around 30 kms from Pune, to celebrate the anniversary of a battle that took
place in 1818. In the battle, a small contingent of Mahar Dalit soldiers trounced the
numerically superior army of Peshwa Bajirao II, whose regime was noted for its
exploitative policies against members of the oppressed castes.

Since 2018 is the bicentennial year of the battle, the organisers decided to hold a
special event called the Elgaar Parishad the day earlier, on December 31, 2017, at
Pune’s Shaniwarwada Fort, the seat of power of the Peshwas.

Nearly 250 groups with divergent ideologies came together at the event. In tents
packed to the brim, approximately 35,000 people watched plays, and listened to
music and speeches. The next day, as they made their way to Bhima Koregaon,
participants say they were attacked by people allegedly belonging to Hindutva
groups Shiv Prathishthan Hindustan and Samasta Hindu Aghadi. One person died
in the violence. Around 16 boys of below 16 years were booked in the following
days by the police & harassed, lodged at Dongri childrens’ home allegedly for
rioting at Chembur. Their futures appeared jeopardized in the background of
relative poverty and administrative mismanagement, political
manipulations.Immediate impact of the violence was widespread with around 4-
500 people being arrested (most of them from Aurangabad, Nanded & parts of
Nagpur as per an officer).Clearly the effects of the violence did spread in and
around Maharashtra.

In the immediate aftermath, the Pune Rural Police launched an investigation on the
basis of a First Investigation Report (FIR) filed against Sambhaji Bhide and Milind
Ekbote, the leaders of the mentioned Hindutva organisations organisations.

But in June, the Pune police arrested five activists who they alleged had Maoist
links and had used the Elgaar Parishad to instigate the violence at Bhima
Koregaon. The Pune police claimed that Tuesday’s arrests have been made as part
of the same investigation.
The Elgaar Parishad is now be under the shadow of a police investigation, but
those who attended it, including this reporter, remember it most for the enthusiastic
crowds, the colourful performances and the wide range of speakers. The police
claims inflammatory speeches were made at the Parishad, but the day had actually
ended with Harshali Potdar, an activist who was subsequently raided, leading the
audience in an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, to protect the values
enshrined in it.

The event began at 2 in the afternoon. Six tents had been pitched in front of the
Shaniwarwada fort. By 2:30 pm, the tents were filled. Fearing a stampede, the
police were refusing to allow more people in.

On stage were the organisers of the event, as well as speakers, including Gujarat
MLA Jignesh Mevani, Dalit activist Radhika Vemula, Adivasi activist Soni Sori,
Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar, Bhim Army President Vinay Ratan Singh,
Bombay High Court Justice (retd) BG Kholse-Patil, and student leader Umar
Khalid.

The cultural performances had strong anti-caste themes. Lok shahirs (bards)
performed songs that paid tribute to the teachings of Bhakti reformers like
Tukaram, and anti-caste reformers such as Jotirao Phule. As is typical of the
shahiri tradition, the bards took potshots at politicians and unpopular policies like
demonetisation. There were also songs extolling the 17th-century Maratha ruler
Shivaji and and the early 20th century Kolhapur ruler Shahu, who was a noted
reformer.

A dance troupe from Pune staged an electrifying performance of acrobatics. A

Marathi hip-hop group had the crowd cheering to their anti-caste rap. A hip-hop
group from Mumbai, Bombay Lokal, also performed a catchy number that got the
crowd fired up.

The performances were punctuated with slogans denouncing the naya-Peshwai or

neo-Peshwa regime, a reference to the religious fundamentalism fostered by the
Bharatiya Janata Party government that, it was claimed, had created an atmosphere
of fear for Dalits, Muslims, peasants and other minorities.

At the edge of the stage, four black pots were stacked on top of each other, each
carrying the name of the four varnas – Brahmins at the top, and Shudras at the
bottom. Before Radhika Vemula made her speech, she was invited to smash the
pots in a symbolic gesture of annihilating caste.
In his speech, independent MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani quoted from a book
titled Karmyog that Narendra Modi had written when he was Gujarat chief
minister, in which he said that the work of cleaning excreta, which is mostly
performed by Dalits, was an “experience in spirituality”. Mevani added that caste
annihilation would not be achieved in the assembly or Parliament but on the
streets. After the event, a First Investigation Report (FIR) was filed against Mevani
for promoting enmity on grounds of religion.

Umar Khalid in his speech clarified that the event was not a celebration of a British
victory, but the defeat of a casteist kingdom – a kingdom where members of the
lowest caste were forced to tie brooms behind their back to sweep their footprints.

Subodh More, convenor of the Jati Ant Sangharsh Samiti, one of the organising
groups of Elgaar Parishad, said the event the 250 organisations that put the event
together were from Maharashtra. They had an Ambedkarite and Left-leaning
worldview.

In the week leading up to December 31, two marches made their way through
several districts of Maharashtra before culminating in Pune. One of the marches
was flagged off on December 23, at Yeola in Nashik, where BR Ambedkar had
declared his famous renunciation of Hinduism in 1935: “I was born a Hindu, but I
will not die a Hindu.”

Among the participants in the march were artists, activists, theatre performers, and
musicians. They travelled through the districts of Nashik, Aurangabad, Jalna,
Parbhani, Beed, Ahmednagar, Hingoli, and Nanded, before arriving in Pune. Along
the way, they held public meetings to rally support for Dalit victims of atrocities,
and collected donations for the Elgaar Parishad.

While the police claim a Maoist hand behind the funding of the event, the
organisers have refuted the allegations. Retired High Court judge BG Kholse-Patil,
at a press conference in Mumbai in June, said that the stage, loudspeakers, and
pandals had been set up by the MIT institute of Pune for a function that was to take
place on the morning of January 1. He said that the participating organisations had
contributed towards the event, and that those attempting to link the event to
Maoists were tarnishing the image of former members of the judiciary.

An intense set of investigations into the Case for its possible Causes &
Evolution
The village of Bhima Koregaon, just outside Pune, has been catapulted to national

fame ever since Maharashtra police claimed the caste violence that erupted there

on January 1 was part of a Maoist conspiracy to destabilise India. In controversial

nationwide raids, Pune city police have arrested 10 activists, alleging they were

part of this conspiracy.

However, their counterparts in Pune rural police, investigating the same incident of
caste violence, have registered cases against two Hindutva leaders. The allegation
is that they provoked the violence by making incendiary speeches.

An interconnected dispute over a funeral that took place more than 300 years ago
in Vadhu Budruk, a village that lies 3 km from Bhima Koregaon also makes its
appearance.

For a long time, a memorial built here in the memory of Sambhaji, the son of the
17th-century Maratha warrior king Shivaji, has been a reminder of the shared
history of Marathas and Dalits. But in recent years, it has become a flashpoint, with
Brahmin politicians seeking to capitalise on its contested history.

This intersection of history and politics played a major role in producing the caste
clashes between Marathas and Dalits on January 1, four independent reports that
have investigated the Bhima Koregaon violence and have been submitted to the
judicial commission set up by Maharashtra government have been found.

These reports come from different ends of the ideological spectrum – one has been
authored by Pune’s deputy mayor who belongs to the Ramdas Athawale-led
faction of the Republican Party of India, while another has been released by Vivek
Vichar Manch, an organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the
ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

All four reports concur on the importance of Vadhu Budruk village and the friction
witnessed there through the month of December.

The Pune deputy mayor’s report, in fact, relies on a Facebook post to suggest the
violence could have been planned as early as December 16, a full week before
tensions erupted.
Apart from this Facebook post, other social media posts and speeches that have
been submitted to the judicial commission, including ones that boast about beating
Dalits, and another that exhorts Marathas to raze the Bhima Koregaon memorial
pillar in revenge, have also been examined.

This voluminous body of evidence calls into question Pune police claims that a
Maoist conspiracy was responsible for the violence. As Scroll.in reported
previously, these claims are based on letters that experts have dismissed
as “mischievous fabrication”.

Immediately after the violence broke out, several groups began to form fact-
finding committees to investigate its causes.

The first was one led by Pune deputy mayor Siddharth Dhende of the Republican
Party of India. This report was not, as has been widely reported, commissioned by
the Pune police. Submitted in January, the report concluded that two Brahmin
leaders of Hindutva organisations, Milind Ekbote and Manohar Bhide, also known
as Sambaji Bhide, played a significant role in whipping up tensions in Vadhu and
beyond.

Soon after Dhende’s report, Justice Chandra Kumar, a retired judge of the
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Court, led a committee of retired judges and
lawyers in February that also found that “there was collusion between rioters and
police” in allowing a procession from Vadhu Budruk to the victory pillar in Bhima
Koregaon on January 1.

A third report was published in March by the Forum for Integrated National
Security (FINS) India think tank. Authored by former Indian Army Captain Smita
Gaikwad, this report was the first to outline an alleged Maoist conspiracy involving
the organisers of Elgaar Parishad who, it claimed, used the event to inflame Dalit
sentiments as part of a larger plan to destabilise India. At the same time, the report
also detailed the events in Vadhu Budruk and held them to be a “provocation”.

A fourth report authored by Gaikwad for a different organisation, the Bharatiya

Janata Party-affiliated Vivek Vichar Manch, was released in April. This report is a
slightly longer translation of the FINS India report into Marathi and has a heftier
appendix.

Three of the four reports delve directly into the versions of history in Vadhu. They
say the first mention of Govind Gaikwad’s role in conducting the last rites of
Sambhaji came through a book about the king, but they differ on which book it is.
Siddharth Dhende’s report: It attributes this information to a book written by
historian VS Bendre, which was backed up with historical evidence in works by
subsequent historians. Bendre’s 1960 book was seminal in bringing to light a new
perspective to Sambhaji as a brave and patriotic king, who had until then been
portrayed as a profligate who squandered away the power consolidated by his
father Shivaji. Dhende’s report says that Ekbote and Bhide have twisted the story
of the Maratha ruler’s death to favour a Hindutva interpretation and have been
trying to spread caste hatred through this.

FINS India and Vivek Vichar Manch: The reports claim historians wrote
extensively about how Sambhaji’s son Shahu appointed three caretakers for the
samadhi 43 years after his death and gave them money and land for this. One of
these three was Govind Gaikwad. According to these reports, Gaikwad’s role in
the last rites was first mentioned in the 2005 novel Sambhaji by Vishwas Patil. The
Vivek Vichar Manch report goes on to call this “false history” that was later
amplified by several organisations.

In an interview to Pune Mirror on January 5, Rajendra Gaikwad, a descendant of

Govind Gaikwad said that the delay in granting land to his ancestor for taking care
of the samadhi was only because Sambhaji’s son Shahu heard the full story only
years later.

On December 27, Ekbote held a press conference at the Pune Municipal

Corporation to express his opposition to the Elgaar Parishad, which he said was
aimed at misguiding people and creating social divisions.

The Vivek Vichar Manch report appends the press note he released that day. In
the note, selectively quoting from Dhananjay Keer’s biography of Ambedkar,
omitting the leader’s comments on untouchability, Ekbote said Ambedkar himself
said it was not a matter of pride that Mahars had fought on the side of the British.

Ekbote also wrote a letter to the district collector, saying that the history of the
battle was baseless, misleading and defamatory of the Peshwas.

The Board outside Sambhaji’s Memorial

Ekbote said in his affidavit that he had been working for the past 25 years to
beautify Sambhaji’s samadhi in Vadhu through the Dharmaveer Chhatrapati
Sambhaji Maharaj Smruti Samiti.

Three reports agreed that there had been friction in recent years over changes made
to the board outside the samadhi.
Dhende’s report: A board that mentioned Govind Gaikwad as one of the
caretakers of the samadhi had been discarded and another put up in its place, the
report said. A photo of KB Hedgewar, founder member of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh was also put up at the site, though it has no relevance to it all.
Last year, there was an attempt to bar people coming from the Bhima Koregaon
victory pillar from entering Sambhaji’s samadhi. Only after the police intervened
were people allowed to go inside.

FINS India and Vivek Vichar Manch: The FINS India report agreed that
Gaikwad’s name was on a previous iteration of the board, but his name was later
removed to avoid tension after more villagers demanded that their family names be
added to the memorial. The board at present describes only the Shivale Deshmukh
family, who are local Marathas, as having played a role in conducting the last rites
of the ruler. In 2015, the Buddhist Prerana group reportedly wrote to Maharasthra’s
Minister for Social Justice asking for Govind Gaikwad’s name to be added to the
board outside Sambhaji’s samadhi.

On December 28, 2017, a board was installed in Vadhu Budruk describing

Gaikwad’s role, saying that he was the only one brave and loyal enough to conduct
the last rites for his king and that he was rewarded with land by Shahu. The board
also gave directions to Gaikwad’s samadhi, built on land owned by his descendant
Rajendra Gaikwad. It is not clear who put up this board. The Maratha residents of
Vadhu did not take well to this new board.

Dhende’s report: On December 29, a group of around 200 to 300

“Hindutvawadis” gathered and brought down the board, removed the roof of
Gaikwad’s samadhi and destroyed it, this report said. In an attempt to defuse
tensions, the police filed a case against 49 people of the village under the caste
atrocities act.

Vivek Vichar Manch report: The report claims that some people who were not
present at the site were charged under the atrocities act.

Residents of Vadhu told Scroll.in reporter Mridula Chari in January that Ekbote was
the one who had instigated the village against the board. But in his affidavit,
Ekbote claimed he last visited the area on December 18, as part of his annual visit.

Inflammatory messages on social media

Even as these tensions played out in the village itself, social media was rife with
posts filled with caste hatred and incitements to violence. Several posts
which Scroll.in independently viewed from December 29 to 31 call for people to
gather in large numbers in Vadhu on January 1 to prevent the spread of “false
history”.

One post from December 30 says, “Our village Vadhu Budruk has for the first time
set aside political differences and come together. From now on, only the saffron
flag will fly here.” In reply, someone has commented “War has begun. [...] Some
people have forgotten their position. Perhaps we should remind them who
Marathas are.” Both comments seem to be replicated several times over.

Chandra Kumar’s report: It notes that in the three to four days before January 1,
several messages were circulated on Whatsapp, Facebook and other social media
on behalf of Ekbote and Bhide, asking people to observe a bandh from January 1.

FINS India report: It mentions rumours prevalent in the village that “fringe
elements” were planning to attack Sambhaji’s samadhi on that day, which is why
so many people gathered there.

In his first statement to the press in the first week of January, Bhide said that he
does not even use a mobile phone, and claimed no knowledge of the viral
Whatsapp messages. He asked for the police to investigate the source of these
messages.

Dhende’s report: Predating these messages, in an indication that the conflict was
pre-planned, a Facebook post dated December 16 by one Kaustubh Kasture quotes
a line from what is presumably the 2015 Neeraj Pandey film Baby saying, “This
year, there is going to be a large Diwali” in Hindi.

“As the year ends, a load of ear splitting crackers will explode,” it goes on to say in
Marathi. “The occasion will be on January 1. Hint: This message pertains to
history. Not the publication of a new book.”

A reply to that post, also captured in the screenshot, says: “While we celebrate
Diwali, the rest will burn like Holika figurines.”

This Facebook post is part of Dhende’s report. It was taken from a screenshot
saved by a member of the Sambhaji Brigade, a largely Maratha organisation that
participated in the Elgaar Parishad. Scroll.in was unable to independently view
either Kasture’s post or the screenshot online.

Prakash Ambedkar-led delegation: More evidence of a planned mobilisation

ahead of January 1 features in a dossier submitted to the judicial commission by a
delegation of several organisations led by Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharip Bahujan
Mahasangh.

One of these videos shows a group of people at Sambhaji’s samadhi garlanding a

statue of Shivaji. After they chant slogans in praise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,
Dharmavir Sambhaji Maharaj, Bharat Mata and the Hindu faith, a sequence of
slogans associated with Bhide’s organisation, Shiv Prathishthan Hindustan, they
chant another mantra that roughly translates as: “We must fight for [our] religion...
Through killing we must take back our state. Set out to kill the treasonous dogs.”

Scroll.in could not independently verify the date of this video. But it is clear the
video has been shot at Sambhaji’s samadhi – a person in the video can be heard
saying he is in Vadhu Budruk during a phone conversation.

Another Facebook post on December 30, has a user issuing a call for destructive
chaos: “Ho gaya shankhnaad, taandav machana hai, jatiyon me na batna hindu
sheron, hamein Hindu Rashtra banana hai.” [“The conch shell has been sounded
and it is time to bring about a destructive dance. Don’t get divided into castes,
Hindu lions. We have to make a Hindu country.”]

In another post from December 31, a person brags about beating a Dalit man black
and blue. The post, in Marathi, attempts to pun on the word blue, which is a colour
associated with Dalits and Ambedkarite movements. Scroll.in was able to
independently access this post online as late as September 11.

In another post that was still online until this week, a user can be seen exhorting
people to raze the Bhima Koregaon memorial obelisk in revenge, as according to
his post, it is a symbol of the victory of the British. There are also posts asking to
replenish the “stock” at Bhima Koregaon, to increase the “score”. According to
Sagar Gorkhe, a singer and activist from Kabir Kala Manch, “stock” was a
reference to the pile of stones and lathis gathered by the Hindutva groups and
“score” meant the number of Dalits who were attacked as they were returning from
the Bhima Koregaon memorial.

The day after the violence, one post in Hindi on January 2 boasts about having
participated in it. This post has pictures of a bleeding Dalit man, torched vehicles,
and a mob carrying saffron flag, with an accompanying text that says: “The
Parshuram Sena torched hundreds of vehicles...the anti-Brahmin Ambedkarites
were chased and beaten up, in which one of them was killed.” The post also used a
Hindi hashtag: #Brahmano_ka_tandav. This post was also still online.

The Call for Bandhs

 The atrocities case against 49 Marathas irked people in several neighbouring
villages. All reports concur that the villages of Vadhu Budruk and Koregaon
Bhima issued a letter on December 30 citing the events at Sambhaji’s samadhi in
Vadhu. To prevent any outbreak of violence, Koregaon Bhima decided to call for a
bandh on January 1, the day of the battle commemoration. Several neighbouring
villages joined the bandh. Vadhu Budruk’s letter to the Shikrapur station says that
the groups of “backward classes” and local Dalits have been putting pressure on
the police to investigate local residents and in protest against this would keep their
villages shut from December 30.

The March to Bhima Koregaon

On January 1, a group of around 2,000 people carrying saffron flags began to
march from Vadhu to Bhima Koregaon chanting slogans, all four reports note. At
Bhima Koregaon, the mob became violent and began to attack people going
towards the Vijay Stambh. While Bhide has said he was attending a funeral in
another district, Ekbote has submitted evidence to show he was not present at
Bhima Koregaon on January 1.

FINS India and Vivek Vichar Manch reports: Both say that the police erred in
allowing the march to continue, and had they controlled it, the violence could have
been contained.

Chandra Kumar’s report: This report says that a man named Ramdas Lokhande
called Minister of State for Social Justice, Dilip Kamble, soon after the violence
broke out. In turn, Kamble arrived at Bhima Koregaon and asked the police to take
action, but rioters pelted stones at his car instead. Kamble phoned Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to ask for police reinforcements. The report
says there were no visible reinforcements.

Dhende’s report: The report also mentions calls made by Kamble and others to
Fadnavis. The report adds that journalists who were in the car with Kamble said
that Fadnavis cut the call and witnesses recognised local police officers wearing
plain clothes in the middle of the crowd.

Witness at the judicial commission: Ravindra Chandane, district president of the

Republican Party of India (Socialist), submitted an affidavit to the judicial
commission, which includes a video of this violence. In the video, men in yellow
shirts with saffron flags run up a street in Bhima Koregaon, shouting slogans. One
person with a blue flag runs into that mob in seeming defiance. Police officials in
uniform are strolling with the crowd. The rest of the video is unclear because
Chandane was obliged to put away his phone. Chandane is due to testify in the last
week of September.
Maoist Allegations & Arrest of Activists : Heightening Dynamics of Bhima
Koregaon Case

Following the launching of a First Investigation Report (FIR) by the Hindu

fundamentalist side of the controversy, in retaliation to the one launched against the
two infamous Hindutva activists Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, ten nationally
& regionally acclaimed activists were arrested in allegations of Maoist involvement
and or incitement, including Stan Swamy, Anand Teltumbde, Soma Sen,
Pendyala,Varvara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves and
Gautam Navlakha. Underneath follows the chronological order of arrests reflecting
its intensely controversial character provoking even the Supreme Court to stay out
of any real involvement.

June 6th (2018): Pune polica arrests dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale; Nagpur university
head of English Department Soma Sen; activist Mahesh Raut & Kerala native Rona
Wilson involved in releasing & working for political prisoners.

August 28th: Arrest of Telugu poet Varvara Rao, activists Vernon Gonsalves,Arun
Ferreira from Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bharadwaj, civil liberties activist
Gautam Navlakha.

Petition was filed in Delhi High Court (HC) on behalf of Navlakha challenging
arrest. Delhi HC directs Navalakha not to leave national capital until the matter is
heard the next day. Punjab and Haryana stays transit remand of Bharadwaj.

August 29th: Maharashtra police submits to Delhi HC translated documents with FIR
to Navlakha’s counsel.

Supreme Court (SC) directs all activists to be kept under house arrest until
September 6th.

August 30th: Delhi HC directed to not proceed with hearing plea against Navlakha’s
arrest until orders received from SC..

September 5th: Maharashtra government defends its acts over substantial evidence
against Communist Party of India (Maoist) planned link.

September 6th: House arrest extended to September 12th by SC.

Extension of house arrest again until 17th September was announced by SC and
dragged on finally until September 28th by SC and in a 2:1 verdict SC finally
refused under present Chief Justice of India (CJI): Ranjan Gogoi, to interfere with
arrests and and declined to appoint a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the
case in question.
Examination of the five Activists under House Arrest

PendyalaVarvara Rao: With a literary career spanning over 6 decades of a most

renowned poet of Hyderabad , P. Varvara Rao is also well known for his overtly
and aesthetically expressed Marxist and Maoist leanings. He has been deeply
involved in the Naxalbari movement of 1960s and parallel to his passionately
humanitarian intellectual oeuvres like ‘Telengana Liberation Struggle’ and ‘The
Poet is No Lion but a Stream’ he has been booked for 41 conspiracy cases since
1974. The CPI(M) deputed Rao, the poet Gaddar and novelist G. Kalyana Rao as
the party’s initial emissaries. However, it can still not be denied that Rao’s
Communist expressions mostly have opened doors for negotiation between
administrators and the Communists.

Sudha Bharadwaj: She has been a lawyer at Chhattisgarh High Court (HC)
&professor at National Law University (NLU) in Delhi, and has never seen eye to
eye with the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) presumably due to socialist leanings
reflected through her dynamic and extensive work among mine workers, industrial
workers, dalits & tribals specially over land rights. As the general secretary of
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Chhattisgarh) she has also been at a tiff with the
state government due to her non compromising nature. She has been presumably
arrested simply as a warning to the socialist or democratic community in India.

Arun Ferreira: He can be the best example of an intellectual urban Naxalite hailing
from Bandra and despite his soft and modest exterior, reflects passionate sympathy
for the down trodden reflected in his ‘Cage of the Colours’, his experiences shared
by those of fellow academician activist Vernon Gonsalves . Given evidence of him
working for the suppressed sections of Western Maharashtra (part of the Naxal belt)
and his record in the Nagpur central jail, the government would find no better
moment for eliminating a threat who had the determination to study law and start
working particularly among political prisoners while himself in jail. He was alleged
to have promoted the cause of the arrested activists from the disputed side of the
case.

Vernon Gonsalves: Like Ferreira he spent 6 years in different Mumbai prisons

before being released due to absence of evidence in 17 cases. An academician &
writer he has been presumably arrested due to his intellectual and substantive
transparency and boldness (seen often as threats) questioning many of the
governmental moves in his articles in the Colours of the Cage memoirs of Ferreira.
His arrest is also supposedly linked to his wife’s connection with the Maoist
sympathiser Nagpur lawyer Surendra Gadling who got arrested beforehand.

Gautam Navlakha: A Delhi based journalist and civil rights activist with no
connection with either Elgar Parishad or Bhima Koregaon violence might simply
have been arrested as part of a widespread plan to eliminate voices speaking for
social and fundamental rights. His area of sympathy and work is Jammu & Kashmir
(J&K) and he has written as well as campaigned intensively since 1990s against the
several atrocities of the Indian military in that area, recording details of all politico-
human rights chaos & violations. A plausible cause of arrest might be has recent
work on Chhattisgarh which is under Maoist influence. He has a long history with
the J&K Coalition of Civil Society. (JKCCS) & has been an editorial consultant for
the leftist journal Economic & Political Weekly (EPW).His arrest has spread
resentment not just among the mainland Indian human rights sympathisers and
activists but among the J&K ones as well.

Latest Developments

Marxist historian Romilla Thapar along with four other activists : Devaki Jain,
Prabhat Patnaik, Satish Deshpande and Maja Daruwala launched a petition to the
Supreme Court demanding a SIT probe and immediate release of the five arrested
activists. The petition highlights political and ideological persecution recognised as
violations of rights of individuals under the Constitution of India and international
human rights law, under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ratified by India in 1976). “The arbitrary, motivated arrests and rampant misuse of
special laws like the UAPA”, and violations of Fundamental rights under Articles 19
& 21 have been pointed out. Despite having lost the case ultimately and being
questioned by the counsel for Maharashtra Additional Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta over the interests of the petitioners in the case since they were neither harmed
nor in any way involved in the case, the four intellectuals have fought a brave fight.

Conclusion

The incidents of the Elgar Parishad (December 31st 2017) and the Bhima Koregaon
violence (1st January 2018) have both set India yet again for an intensive, dynamic
and uncertain fight between the democratic, socialist people’s voices and the
authoritative capitalist, discriminatory voices. The Bhima Koregaon violence and its
developments in the direction of Maoist allegation and arrests of widely acclaimed
intellectual civil rights workers have reflected communal divisions and politics of
the latest times. The fight between the haves and have nots at all categories of
human society has been there since time immemorial. Our case in point has a rich
historical background and significance, inviting in a great controversy by projecting
the Indian nationalist movement in a different light at certain instances and also by
opening the doors of development and empowerment of historically suppressed,
discriminated classes. The human ignorance is reflected where we find many of
today’s anti Dalit leaders belonging themselves to similar classes and still trying to
push humanity into darkness. The repercussions of the Bhima Koregaon case have
been wide ranging by increasing its social importance among the masses and
academicians as well as by keeping the currently working BJP in several dilemmas
over the upcoming national elections where it will win only by both wooing Dalits
as well as by keeping the fundamentalist religious groups in the loop. But the case
for human rights would get increasingly complex though constantly highlighted
through further developments of the case.

References
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and Politics of the Subaltern’, Vol.53, Issue No.7, 17 Feb,2018
2. Shantha Sukanya, ‘Post Bhima Koregaon Violence, Police Target Dalits Across
Maharashtra, Minor Boys Worst Hit’, The Wire, Jan 8,2018
3. Bhattacharya Anirban, ‘Bhima Koregaon and the Dalits’ Never Ending Search
for a Nation’, The Wire, Jan 5,2018
4. Satheesh Sone, ‘Flashback: Vibrant scenes from Pune’s Elgar Parished, which
led to the Bhima Koregaon case arrets’, Scroll.in, Aug 30, 2018
5. ‘Bhima Koregaon Case: Chronology of activists’ arrest’ Times of India, Sept 28,
2018
6. Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, Fronline ‘Fighters for Rights’Sept 28, 2018
7. Purnima S. Tripathi Frontline ‘Sudha Bharadwaj:Lawyer-fighter’ Sept 28, 2018
8. Anupama Katakam, Frontline, ‘Arun Ferreira-Prisoners’ friend’ Sept 28, 2018
9. Anupama Katakam, Frontline, ‘ Vernon Gonsalves-Targeted teacher’ Sept 28.
2018
10. Anupama Katakam, Frontline, ‘Gautam Navlakha-Kashmir connection’Sept 28,
2018
11. Anupama Katakam, Frontline, ‘Double Standards’ Sept 28, 2018
12. V. Venkatesan, Frontline, ‘In pursuit of justice’, Sept 28, 2018
13. Mridula Chari & Shone Satheesh, Scroll.in, ‘Tensions over 300-year-old history
hold the key to the Bhima Koregaon violence- not a Maoist plot’, Sept 15, 2018