Maharashtra braces for 202nd anniversary of Koregaon-Bhima war

With the ongoing nationwide protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the small village of Koregaon-Bhima here will be in the spotlight as it prepares to celebrate the 202nd anniversary of the Anglo-Maratha War here on Jan. 1, 2020, tomorrow.

Not willing to take any chances under a new Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the saddle with Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister, the district police and administration have made extensive security arrangements in the village in Shirur sub-district near the Pune-Ahmednagar highway.

The memories of the caste violence which rocked the village and left one person dead on Jan. 1, 2018 – the bicentennial of the Koregaon-Bhima war – are still fresh in the minds of the people and all efforts are being taken to ensure there are no disturbances again, said an official.

In the famous Koregaon-Bhima war which took place on Jan. 1, 1818, a small 800-strong force comprising the Mahar caste of the Bombay Native Infantry of the East India Company confronted a battalion of the huge 28,000-men army of the Bajirao Peshwa II, which retreated after a 12-hour long skirmish.

Since then, every year, thousands of Dalits from all over Maharashtra and other parts gather at the Koregaon-Bhima Victory Pillar (obelisk) to commemorate the British forces’ victory over the Peshwa’s army.

On Dec. 31 2017, a large Elgar Parishad was held in Pune’s Shaniwarwada addressed by many leaders of Leftists, social and Dalit intellectuals, the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), the banned CPI (Maoist), its frontal organisations, etc, which allegedly triggered violence the next day – Jan. 1, 2018 – in Koregaon-Bhima, where over 100,000 Dalits had gathered.

The two incidents proved to be a watershed in the state’s recent history and a chasm developed as the then Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of ex-Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went hammer-and-tongs after the leftist groups and their leaders.

That year, many prominent Dalit and Leftist, activists and intellectuals were arrested in a nationwide swoop by Pune Police in June and August 2018.

They include: Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut, all nabbed on June 6, 2018, and charged for alleged links with Maoist ultras groups.

Later, the Pune Police arrested P. Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, on similar charges, besides naming others like Milind Teltumbde, Rituparn Goswami, Prashanto Bose, as “underground, absconded and wanted accused” in the case.

The Pune Police contended that these persons/groups supported, funded and organized the Elgar Parishad as part of a larger conspiracy to create social and political unrest in the country, assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wage a war against the country and overthrow the democratically-elected government.

After the MVA government of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress took office on Nov. 28, there appears a change in perception of the cases lodged during the previous government.

Terming the Pune Police action as “incorrect”, NCP President Sharad Pawar has recently urged the MVA government to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the booking and nabbing of civil rights defenders and human rights activists.

Ahead of the 202nd anniversary tomorrow, the Pune Police have slapped notices to more than 160 people, including right-wing leaders like Sambhaji Bhide Guruji and Milind Ekbote.

The police have prohibited their entry to Koregaon-Bhima tomorrow and the plans of the Bhim Army to take out a rally there is no uncertain as its leader Chandrashekhar Azad is booked for the CAA protests.-IANS/Quaid Najmi